L-glutamic acid-producing microorganism and a method for producing L-glutamic acid

ABSTRACT

A coryneform bacterium that is modified by using a yggB gene so that L-glutamic acid-producing ability is enhanced as compared to a non-modified strains is cultured in a medium to cause accumulation of L-glutamic acid in the medium or bacterial cells, and L-glutamic acid is collected from the medium or cells.

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(a) to JP2004-378604, JP2004-378615, JP2005-262087, and under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to U.S. provisional application 60/641,079, filed Jan. 4, 2005, 60/641,080, filed Jan. 4, 2005 and 60/715,131, filed Sep. 9, 2005, the entireties of all of which are incorporated by reference. The Sequence Listing on Compact Disk filed herewith is also hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety (File Name: US-200 Seq List; File Size: 313 KB; Date Created: Dec. 28, 2005).

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an L-glutamic acid-producing microorganism and a method for producing L-glutamic acid using the microorganism. L-glutamic acid is widely used in the food industry, for example, as a raw material in the production of seasonings.

2. Brief Description of the Related Art

L-glutamic acid has been conventionally produced on an industrial scale by fermentation methods using coryneform bacteria which have L-glutamic acid-producing ability, such as bacteria belonging to the genus Brevibacterium or Corynebacterium. For this purpose, strains isolated from nature, or artificial mutants thereof, have been used.

Generally, wild-type strains of coryneform bacteria do not produce L-glutamic acid when excess biotin is present. Accordingly, L-glutamic acid production by coryneform bacteria is typically performed under biotin-limited conditions, or a surfactant or penicillin is added to the culture medium (Biosci. Biotech. Biochem., 1997, 61(7), p1109-1112). On the other hand, mutant strains that can produce L-glutamic acid in the presence of excess biotin are used for L-glutamic acid production. These strains include a surfactant-temperature-sensitive strain (WO99/02692), a penicillin-sensitive strain (JP-A-55-0124492), and a lysozyme-sensitive strain (WO00/14241). However, such mutant strains may often show a decrease in fatty acid or cell wall synthesis, and there has been some difficulty in producing L-glutamic acid using these strains while maintaining sufficient growth of the strains.

Meanwhile, a genetically modified strain in which a gene encoding α-ketoglutaric acid dehydrogenase (α-KGDH) is disrupted has been used to produce L-glutamic acid in the presence of excess biotin (WO95/34672). However, this α-KGDH gene-deficient strain grows slowly because the TCA cycle is blocked midway, and it is difficult to obtain a sufficient amount of cells required for L-glutamic acid production.

The yggB gene of coryneform bacteria is a homolog of the yggB gene of Escherichia coli (FEMS Microbiol Lett. 2003, 218(2), p305-309, Mol Microbiol. 2004, 54(2), p420-438), and has been reported to be a kind of mechanosensitive channel (EMBO J. 1999, 18(7):1730-7.). However, its effect on L-glutamic acid production has not been previously reported.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide a novel method to improve L-glutamic acid-producing ability of coryneform bacterium.

The inventors of the present invention have made extensive studies to achieve this object, and found that the L-glutamic acid-producing ability of coryneform bacterium can be improved by enhancing expression of the wild-type yggB gene. Furthermore, mutant-type yggB genes which improve L-glutamic acid-producing ability of coryneform bacterium in the presence of excess biotin as well as normal L-glutamic acid-producing conditions were obtained, and thereby accomplished the present invention.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a coryneform bacterium having L-glutamic acid-producing ability, wherein said coryneform bacterium is modified so that L-glutamic acid-producing ability of the strain is enhanced as compared to a non-modified strain, wherein said bacterium is modified in a manner selected from the group consisting of enhancing the expression of a yggB gene or enhancing the activity of the yggB protein, introducing a mutant-type yggB gene, enhancing the expression of a mutant-type yggB gene, and combinations thereof.

It is an object of the present invention to provide the coryneform bacterium as described above, wherein said yggB gene is selected from the group consisting of:

(a) a DNA comprising nucleotides 1437 to 3035 of SEQ ID No: 5,

(b) a DNA that is able to hybridize with a nucleotide sequence complementary to the nucleotides 1437 to 3035 of SEQ ID No: 5 or a probe prepared from the nucleotides under stringent conditions, and wherein said DNA increases L-glutamic acid-producing ability of a coryneform bacterium when it is introduced into the coryneform bacterium,

(c) a DNA comprising nucleotides 507 to 2093 of SEQ ID No: 61,

(d) a DNA that is able to hybridize with a nucleotide sequence complementary to the nucleotides 507 to 2093 of SEQ ID No: 61 or a probe prepared from the nucleotides under stringent conditions, and wherein said DNA increases L-glutamic acid-producing ability of a coryneform bacterium when it is introduced into the coryneform bacterium,

(e) a DNA comprising nucleotides 403 to 2001 of SEQ ID No: 67,

(f) a DNA that is able to hybridize with a nucleotide sequence complementary to the nucleotides 403 to 2001 of SEQ ID No: 67 or a probe prepared from the nucleotides under stringent conditions, and wherein said DNA increases L-glutamic acid-producing ability of a coryneform bacterium when it is introduced into the coryneform bacterium,

(g) a DNA comprising nucleotides 501 to 2099 of SEQ ID No: 83, and

(h) a DNA that is able to hybridize with a nucleotide sequence complementary to the nucleotides 501 to 2099 of SEQ ID No: 83 or a probe prepared from the nucleotides under stringent conditions, and wherein said DNA increases L-glutamic acid-producing ability of a coryneform bacterium when it is introduced into the coryneform bacterium.

It is a further object to provide the coryneform bacterium as described above, wherein said yggB gene encodes a protein selected from the group consisting of:

(A) a protein comprising an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO: 6, 62, 68, 84 and 85, and

(B) a protein comprising an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO: 6, 62, 68, 84 and 85, whereby one or several amino acids in said protein are substituted, deleted, inserted, or added, and said yggB gene increases L-glutamic acid-producing ability of a coryneform bacterium when it is introduced into the coryneform bacterium.

It is a further object to provide the coryneform bacterium as described above, wherein said coryneform bacterium is modified so to enhance expression of the yggB gene as compared to a non-modified strain.

It is a further object to provide the coryneform bacterium as described above, wherein expression of the yggB gene is enhanced by increasing a copy number of the yggB gene or modifying an expression regulating sequence of the yggB gene.

It is a further object to provide the coryneform bacterium as described above, wherein said coryneform bacterium is modified by introducing a mutant-type yggB gene.

It is a further object to provide the coryneform bacterium as described above, wherein said mutant-type yggB gene has a mutation in a region encoding amino acids 419-533 of SEQ ID NO: 6, 68, 84 or 85, or amino acids 419-529 of SEQ ID NO: 62.

It is a further object to provide the coryneform bacterium as described above, wherein said mutation is deletion of said region.

It is a further object to provide the coryneform bacterium as described above, wherein said mutation is insertion of an insertion sequence or transposon into the region.

It is a further object to provide the coryneform bacterium as described above, wherein said mutant-type yggB gene has a mutation which results in replacement of the proline in said region with another amino acid.

It is a further object to provide the coryneform bacterium as described above, wherein said mutant-type yggB gene has a mutation which results in replacement of the proline at position 424 and/or the proline at position 437 in the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 6, 62, 68, 84 or 85 with another amino acid.

It is a further object to provide the coryneform bacterium as described above, wherein said mutant-type yggB gene has a mutation in the transmembrane-coding region of the yggB protein.

It is a further object to provide the coryneform bacterium as described above, wherein said transmembrane-coding region is selected from the group consisting of amino acids 1-23, amino acids 25-47, amino acids 62-84, amino acids 86-108, and amino acids 110-132 of SEQ ID NO: 6, 62, 68, 84 or 85.

It is a further object to provide the coryneform bacterium as described above, wherein said mutation is introduced without causing a frame-shift.

It is a further object to provide the coryneform bacterium as described above, wherein said mutant-type yggB gene has a mutation which results in replacement of the alanine at position 100 and/or the alanine at position 111 in the amino acid sequence shown in SEQ ID NO: 6, 62, 68, 84 or 85 with another amino acid.

It is a further object to provide the coryneform bacterium as described above, wherein said mutant-type yggB gene has a mutation which results in insertion of at least one amino acid between leucine at position 14 and tryptophan at position 15 in SEQ ID NO: 6, 62, 68, 84 or 85.

It is a further object to provide the coryneform bacterium as described above, wherein resistance to L-glutamic acid analogs of said strain is increased by introduction of the mutant-type yggB gene.

It is a further object to provide the coryneform bacterium as described above, wherein said coryneform bacterium is further modified to inactivate a gene which suppresses a function of said mutant-yggB gene.

It is a further object to provide the coryneform bacterium as described above, wherein said gene which suppresses a function of said mutant-yggB gene is a symA gene and wherein said symA gene is selected from the group consisting of:

(a) a DNA comprising nucleotides 585 to 1121 of SEQ ID No: 86,

(b) a DNA that is able to hybridize with a nucleotide sequence complementary to nucleotides 585 to 1121 of SEQ ID No: 86, or a probe prepared from said nucleotides under stringent conditions, and wherein said DNA suppresses a function of said mutant-type yggB gene in the coryneform bacterium.

It is a further object to provide the coryneform bacterium as described above, wherein said coryneform bacterium is further modified so to decrease α-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase activity.

It is a further object to provide the coryneform bacterium as described above, wherein said coryneform bacterium is a bacterium belonging to the genus Corynebacterium or the genus Brevibacterium.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for producing L-glutamic acid comprising culturing the coryneform bacterium as described in a medium so to cause accumulation of L-glutamic acid in the medium or cells, and collecting L-glutamic acid from the medium or the cells.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a mutant-type yggB gene selected from the group consisting of:

(a) a gene encoding amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 8,

(b) a gene encoding a protein having a homology of not less than 80% to SEQ ID NO: 8, and having a function to increase L-glutamic acid-producing ability of coryneform bacterium under condition containing excess biotin when it is introduced into the coryneform bacterium,

(c) a gene encoding amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 20,

(d) a gene encoding a protein having a homology of not less than 80% to SEQ ID NO: 20, and having a function to increase L-glutamic acid-producing ability of coryneform bacterium in the presence of excess biotin when said gene is introduced into the coryneform bacterium,

(e) a gene encoding amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 22,

(f) a gene encoding a protein having a homology of not less than 80% to SEQ ID NO: 22, and having a function to increase L-glutamic acid-producing ability of coryneform bacterium in the presence of excess biotin when it said gene introduced into the coryneform bacterium,

(g) a gene encoding amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 24,

(h) a gene encoding a protein having a homology of not less than 80% to SEQ ID NO: 24, and having a function to increase L-glutamic acid-producing ability of coryneform bacterium in the presence of excess biotin when said gene is introduced into the coryneform bacterium,

(i) a gene encoding amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 64,

(j) a gene encoding a protein having a homology of not less than 80% to SEQ ID NO: 64, and having a function to increase L-glutamic acid-producing ability of coryneform bacterium in the presence of excess biotin when said gene is introduced into the coryneform bacterium,

(k) a gene encoding amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 70,

(l) a gene encoding a protein having a homology of not less than 80% to SEQ ID NO: 70, and having a function to increase L-glutamic acid-producing ability of coryneform bacterium in the presence of excess biotin when it is introduced into the coryneform bacterium,

(m) a gene encoding amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 74,

(n) a gene encoding a protein having a homology of not less than 80% to SEQ ID NO: 74, and having a function to increase L-glutamic acid-producing ability of coryneform bacterium in the presence of excess biotin when said gene is introduced into the coryneform bacterium.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for producing a coryneform bacterium having a mutant-type yggB gene, comprising inoculating a coryneform bacterium which is deficient in a gene encoding α-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase in a medium containing excess biotin, and selecting a strain that is capable of accumulating L-glutamic acid in the medium as a strain having a mutant-type yggB gene.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for producing a coryneform bacterium having a mutant-type yggB gene, comprising inoculating a coryneform bacterium introduced with a yggB gene in which mutation is introduced randomly in vitro in a medium containing excess biotin, and selecting a strain that is capable of accumulating L-glutamic acid in the medium as a strain having a mutant-type yggB gene.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for producing a coryneform bacterium having a mutant-type yggB gene, comprising inoculating a coryneform bacterium introduced with a transposable element randomly on a chromosome in a medium containing excess biotin, and selecting a strain that is capable of accumulating L-glutamic acid in the medium as a strain having a mutant-type yggB gene.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for producing a coryneform bacterium having a mutant-type yggB gene, comprising inoculating a coryneform bacterium into a medium containing L-glutamic acid analogs, and selecting a strain which grows in said medium.

It is an object of the present invention to provide the method for producing a coryneform bacterium as described above, wherein the strain having the mutant-type yggB gene is a coryneform bacterium as as described above.

It is an object of the present invention to provide the method of producing a coryneform bacterium as described above, wherein the medium containing excess biotin is a medium containing 30 μg/l or more of biotin.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows the procedure for constructing plasmid pBS3.

FIG. 2 shows the procedure for constructing plasmid pBS4S.

FIG. 3 shows the procedure for constructing plasmid pBS4sucAint.

FIG. 4 is a graph showing the accumulation of L-glutamic acid by the mutant-type yggB gene-introduced strain and the control strain.

FIG. 5 shows the 2A-1 type mutation in the yggB gene.

FIG. 6 is a photograph which shows the resistance of the mutant-type yggB gene-introduced strains to 4-fluoroglutamic acid on CM-Dex plate medium.

FIG. 7 shows growth of the control strain and the mutant-type yggB gene-introduced strains in a liquid medium containing 4-fluoroglutamic acid.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, the present invention is explained in more detail.

<1> Coryneform Bacterium of the Present Invention

The coryneform bacterium of the present invention has L-glutamic acid-producing ability, and is modified using a yggB gene so that the L-glutamic acid-producing ability of the strain is enhanced as compared to a non-modified strain.

In the present invention, examples of coryneform bacterium include conventional coryneform bacteria, and also include bacteria that had been classified into the genus Brevibacterium, but are currently classified into the genus Corynebacterium (Int. J. Syst. Bacteriol., 41, 255(1991)), as well as the Brevibacterium bacteria that are very close to Corynebacterium bacteria. Examples of such coryneform bacterium include the following:

Corynebacterium acetoacidophilum

Corynebacterium acetoglutamicum

Corynebacterium alkanolyticum

Corynebacterium callunae

Corynebacterium glutamicum

Corynebacterium lilium

Corynebacterium melassecola

Corynebacterium thermoaminogenes (Corynebacterium efficiens)

Corynebacterium herculis

Brevibacterium divaricatum

Brevibacterium flavum

Brevibacterium immariophilum

Brevibacterium lactofermentium (Corynebacterium glutamicum)

Brevibacterium roseum

Brevibacterium saccharolyticum

Brevibacterium thiogenitalis

Brevibacterium ammoniagenes

Brevibacterium album

Brevibacterium cerinum

Microbacterium ammoniaphilum

Specific examples of the coryneform bacteria are as follows:

Corynebacterium acetoacidophilum ATCC13870

Corynebacterium acetoglutamicum ATCC15806

Corynebacterium alkanolyticum ATCC21511

Corynebacterium callunae ATCC15991

Corynebacterium glutamicum ATCC13020, ATCC13032, ATCC13060

Corynebacterium lilium ATCC15990

Corynebacterium melassecola ATCC17965

Corynebacterium thermoaminogenes AJ12340 (FERM BP-1539)

Corynebacterium herculis ATCC13868

Brevibacterium divaricatum ATCC14020

Brevibacterium flavum ATCC13826,

Brevibacterium flavum (Corynebacterium glutamicum) ATCC14067,

Brevibacterium flavum AJ12418 (FERM BP-2205)

Brevibacterium immariophilum ATCC14068

Brevibacterium lactofermentum (Corynebacterium glutamicum) ATCC13869

Brevibacterium roseum ATCC13825

Brevibacterium saccharolyticum ATCC 14066

Brevibacterium thiogenitalis ATCC19240

Brevibacterium ammoniagenes ATCC6871, ATCC6872

Brevibacterium album ATCC 15111

Brevibacterium cerinum ATCC15112

Microbacterium ammoniaphilum ATCC15354

These strains are available from the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC, Address: P.O. Box 1549, Manassas, Va. 20108, United States of America). That is, each strain is given a unique registration number which is listed in the catalogue of the ATCC. Strains can be ordered using this registration number. The AJ12340 strain was deposited at National Institute of Bioscience and Human Technology, Agency of Industrial Science and Technology, Ministry of International Trade and Industry (currently International Patent Organism Depositary, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology at Tsukuba Central 6, 1-1, Higashi 1-chome, Tsukuba-shi, Ibaraki-ken 305-5466, Japan) on Oct. 27, 1989 under the provisions of the Budapest Treaty and given an accession number of FERM BP-1539. The AJ12418 strain was deposited at National Institute of Bioscience and Human Technology, Agency of Industrial Science and Technology, Ministry of International Trade and Industry on Jan. 5, 1989 under the provisions of the Budapest Treaty and given an accession number of FERM BP-2205.

The coryneform bacterium of the present invention has L-glutamic acid-producing ability. “L-glutamic acid-producing ability” means an ability to cause accumulation of a sufficient amount of L-glutamic acid in a medium when the coryneform bacterium of the present invention is cultured in the medium. L-glutamic acid-producing ability may be a property of a parent strain from which the coryneform bacterium of the present invention is bred, because most of the wild-type strains of coryneform bacterium produce L-glutamic acid under L-glutamic acid-producing conditions as described below. Nevertheless, L-glutamic acid-producing ability may be imparted or enhanced by a mutation, gene recombination technique, etc. as mentioned below. Furthermore, the L-glutamic acid-producing ability may be imparted by enhancing the expression of the yggB gene.

The phrase “L-glutamic acid-producing ability of coryneform bacterium is enhanced” means that the coryneform bacterium of the present invention has an enhanced ability to produce L-glutamic acid compared to a non-modified strain. Examples of non-modified strains include Corynebacterium glutamicum ATCC13032, 13869, 14067, and Corynebacterium melassecola ATCC 17965. A non-modified strain may also include one which expresses the wild-type yggB gene at the same level as the wild-type strains or one in which a mutation is not introduced into the coding region of a yggB gene.

An example of a method for imparting L-glutamic acid-producing ability includes enhancing expression of a gene encoding an L-glutamic acid biosynthetic enzyme. Examples of the enzymes involved in L-glutamic acid biosynthesis include glutamate dehydrogenase, glutamine synthetase, glutamate synthetase, isocitrate dehydrogenase, aconitate hydratase, citrate synthase, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase, pyruvate carboxylase, pyruvate dehydrogenase, pyruvate kinase, phosphoenolpyruvate synthase, enolase, phosphoglyceromutase, phosphoglycerate kinase, glyceraldehyde-3-phophate dehydrogenase, triose phosphate isomerase, fructose bisphosphate aldolase, phosphofructokinase, and glucose phosphate isomerase.

Enhancing the expression of these genes can be performed in the same way as enhancing the expression of the yggB gene described below.

Examples of microorganisms which have been modified so that expression of the citrate synthase gene, isocitrate dehydrogenase gene, pyruvate dehydrogenase gene, and/or glutamate dehydrogenase gene is/are enhanced include those microorganisms disclosed in WO00/18935 and JP2000-232890A (EP1010755A).

The modification for imparting L-glutamic acid-producing ability includes decreasing or eliminating an activity of an enzyme that catalyzes a reaction for synthesizing a compound other than L-glutamic acid, and branching from an L-glutamic acid biosynthesis pathway. Examples of such enzymes include isocitrate lyase, α-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase, acetyl phosphate transferase, acetate kinase, acetohydroxy acid synthase, acetolactate synthase, acetyl formate transferase, lactate dehydrogenase, and glutamate decarboxylase. Examples of strains in which α-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase activity is decreased include the following strains:

Brevibacterium lactofermentum ΔS strain (WO95/34672)

Brevibacterium lactofermentum AJ12821 strain (FERM BP-4172; FR9401748)

Brevibacterium flavum AJ12822 strain (FERM BP-4173; FR9401748)

Brevibacterium glutamicum AJ12823 strain (FERM BP-4174; FR9401748)

To decrease or eliminate the activity of the enzymes as described above, a mutation or deletion which causes a decrease or loss of the activity of the enzymes may be introduced into the genes of the enzymes on the chromosome. This may be achieved by, for example, disrupting the gene encoding the enzyme on the chromosome, or by modifying an expression control sequence such as a promoter and/or Shine Dargarno (SD) sequence of the gene. In addition, the activities of such enzymes may be decreased or eliminated by introducing a missense mutation which causes an amino acid substitution, a nonsense mutation which generates a stop codon, or a frame shift mutation which adds or deletes one or two nucleotides into a coding region, or by deleting a portion or the entire gene (Journal of biological Chemistry 272:8611-8617 (1997)). For example, activities of such enzymes may be decreased or eliminated by constructing a gene encoding a mutant enzyme in which its coding region is deleted and replacing a chromosomal gene with the resulting gene by homologous recombination, or by introducing a transposon or an IS factor into these genes.

For example, introduction of mutations to decrease or eliminate the activity of the above-described enzymes by gene recombination can be performed as follows. That is, a mutant-type gene is constructed by modifying a partial sequence of a target gene so that a normal enzyme is not produced, and the mutant-type gene is used to transform a coryneform bacterium to cause recombination with the target gene on a chromosome, and thereby, a target gene on a chromosome can be replaced with the mutant-type gene. Such gene disruption by gene substitution utilizing homologous recombination is already established, and includes a method that employs linear DNA or a method that employs a plasmid containing a temperature-sensitive replication origin (U.S. Pat. No. 6,303,383, or JP-A-05-007491). Examples of temperature-sensitive plasmids for coryneform bacteria include p48K and pSFKT2 (U.S. Pat. No. 6,303,383), pHSC4 (France Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2667875, 1992 and JP5-7491A), and so forth. In coryneform bacteria, these plasmids can autonomously replicate at least at a temperature of 25° C., but cannot autonomously replicate at a temperature of 37° C. The AJ12571 strain harboring pHSC4 was deposited at National Institute of Bioscience and Human Technology, Agency of Industrial Science and Technology, Ministry of International Trade and Industry (currently International Patent Organism Depositary, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology at Tsukuba Central 6, 1-1, Higashi 1-chome, Tsukuba-shi, Ibaraki-ken 305-5466, Japan) on Aug. 26, 1991 under the provisions of the Budapest Treaty and given an accession number of FERM BP-3524.

Gene disruption by gene substitution utilizing the above-mentioned homologous recombination can also be performed by using a plasmid which is not replicable in coryneform bacteria. A plasmid which is not replicable in coryneform bacteria and is replicable in Escherichia bacteria is preferably used. Examples of such a plasmid include pHSG299 (Takara Bio) and pHSG399 (Takara Bio).

A chromosomal gene encoding one of the above-mentioned enzymes can be replaced with a deletion-type gene, for example, by homologous recombination using sacB (Schafer, A. et al., Gene 145 (1994) 69-73). The sacB gene encodes levan sucrase and is used to efficiently select strains in which a chromosomal target gene is replaced by a mutant gene, and a vector portion is cured from a chromosome (WO2005/113745, and WO2005/113744).

At first, a recombinant plasmid is prepared by inserting a deletion-type (mutant) gene, a sacB gene, and a selection marker such as a chloramphenicol-resistant gene into a plasmid containing a temperature-sensitive replication origin. The plasmid is then introduced into a host strain of coryneform bacterium. When levan sucrase is expressed in coryneform bacterium, levan generated by the conversion of sucrose is lethal for the bacterium, and hence the bacterium cannot grow on sucrose-containing medium. Therefore, by culturing on a sucrose-containing plate, strains in which substitution occurs between the mutant gene in the plasmid and a chromosomal gene, and from which the other portions of the plasmid are cured from the cell, can be selected.

Examples of the sacB gene include the following:

Bacillus subillus: sacB GenBank Accession No. X02730 (SEQ ID NO: 11)

Bacillus amyloliqufaciens: sacB GenBank Accession Number X52988

Zymomonas mobilis: sacB GenBank Accession Number L33402

Bacillus stearothermophilus: surB GenBank Accession Number U34874

Lactobacillus sanfranciscensis: frfA GenBank Accession Number AJ508391

Acetobacter xylinus: lsxA GenBank Accession Number AB034152

Gluconacetobacter diazotrophicus: lsdA GenBank Accession No. L41732

The transformant strain is cultured at a temperature at which the temperature-sensitive replication origin functions (e.g. 25° C.), to obtain a strain into which the plasmid has been introduced. Then, the transformant is cultured at a high temperature at which the temperature-sensitive replication origin does not function (e.g. 34° C.) to cure the temperature-sensitive plasmid, and spread on a plate medium containing an antibiotic drug such as kanamycin. Although strains from which the plasmid is cured cannot grow on a plate containing such an antibiotic drug, a few strains in which the chromosomal gene is replaced with the mutant gene can grow and appear as colonies.

In a strain in which the recombinant DNA containing the mutant gene is integrated into the chromosomal DNA, the recombinant DNA causes recombination with the gene that originally existed on the chromosome, and the fusion genes of the chromosomal gene and the mutant gene are inserted into the chromosome so that the other portions of the recombinant DNA (vector segment, temperature sensitive replication origin and antibiotic resistance marker) are present between the fusion genes. Then, in order to leave only the mutant gene on the chromosomal DNA, one copy of the gene is eliminated together with the vector segment (including the temperature-sensitive replication origin and the antibiotics resistance marker) from the chromosomal DNA. In this case, the native gene is left on the chromosomal DNA and the mutant gene is excised from the chromosomal DNA, or to the contrary, the mutant gene is left on the chromosomal DNA and the native gene is excised from the chromosome DNA. In both cases, the excised DNA is maintained in cells of coryneform bacterium when the coryneform bacterium is cultured at a temperature at which the temperature-sensitive replication origin can function. Then, a gene on the plasmid is cured from the cells along with the plasmid by culturing the coryneform bacterium at a temperature at which the temperature-sensitive replication origin cannot function. In the case of using a sacB gene, strains from which the plasmid is cured can be efficiently obtained by culturing the coryneform bacterium in a sucrose-containing medium. Strains in which a target gene is replaced with a mutant-type or deletion-type gene can be obtained by selecting strains in which a mutation is introduced into the target gene from the plasmid-cured strains.

The L-glutamic acid-producing ability may also be imparted by screening for a strain resistant to organic acid analogs, respiratory inhibitors, or superoxide generators, or by screening for a strain sensitive to inhibitors of cell wall synthesis. Examples of such methods include imparting resistance to monofluoroacetate (JP50-113209A), imparting resistance to adenine or thimine (JP57-065198A), imparting resistance to malonic acid (JP52-038088A), attenuating urease activity ((JP52-038088A), imparting resistance to benzopirone or naphtoquinone (JP56-1889A), imparting resistance to HOQNO (JP56-140895A), imparting resistance to α-ketomalonic acid (JP57-2689A), imparting resistance to guanidine (JP56-35981A), imparting resistance to daunomicin (JP58-158192A), and imparting sensitivity to penicillin (JP04-88994A).

Specific examples of such bacteria include the following strains:

Brevibacterium flavum AJ3949 (FERM BP-2632; JP50-113209A)

Corynebacterium glutamicum AJ11628 (FERM P-5736; JP57-065198A)

Brevibacterium flavum AJ11355 (FERM P-5007; JP56-1889A)

Corynebacterium glutamicum AJ11368 (FERM P-5020; JP56-1889A)

Brevibacterium flavum AJ11217 (FERM P-4318; JP57-2689A)

Corynebacterium glutamicum AJ11218 (FERM P-4319; JP57-2689A)

Brevibacterium flavum AJ11564 (FERM P-5472; JP56-140895A)

Brevibacterium flavum AJ11439 (FERM P-5136; JP56-35981A)

Corynebacterium glutamicum H7684 (FERM BP-3004; JP04-88994A)

Brevibacterium lactofermentum AJ11426 (FERM P5123 JP56-048890A)

Corynebacterium glutamicum AJ11440 (FERM P5137 JP56-048890A)

Brevibacterium lactofermentum AJ11796 (FERM P6402 JP58-158192A)

The coryneform bacterium of the present invention can be obtained by modifying the above-described coryneform bacterium having the L-glutamic acid-producing ability using a yggB gene so that L-glutamic acid-producing ability is further enhanced. Alternatively, modification using a yggB gene may be performed first, followed by additional modification to impart or enhance L-glutamic acid-producing ability.

Modification using a yggB gene includes, but is not limited to, enhancing the expression of a yggB gene in a coryneform bacterium and introducing a mutation into a yggB gene in a coryneform bacterium.

<I> Enhancing Expression of a yggB Gene

A yggB gene encodes a kind of mechanosensitive channel, which is also referred to as “mscS” (FEMS Microbiol Lett. 2003 Jan. 28; 218(2):305-9).

Enhancing expression of a yggB gene in coryneform bacterium leads to improvement of the L-glutamic acid-producing ability of the coryneform bacterium as compared to a non-modified strain. That is, when a strain of coryneform bacterium which has been modified so that expression of the yggB gene is increased relative to a non-modified strain, such as a wild-type strain, the strain causes accumulation of more L-glutamic acid, or produces L-glutamic acid at a higher rate, than the non-modified strain. It is preferable that enhancing expression of a yggB gene leads to an increase in the amount of L-glutamic acid produced by more than 2% (yield per consumed sugar), more preferably more than 4%, and still more preferably more than 6%, as compared to a non-modified strain. Alternatively, the yield of L-glutamic acid per carbon (sugar), other than carbon used for generation of bacterial cells, may be increased by enhancing expression of a yggB gene.

Although the expression level of a yggB gene may be at any level as long as it is increased relative to a non-modified strain in which expression of the yggB gene is not enhanced, expression is preferably increased not less than 1.5-fold, more preferably not less than 2-fold, and still more preferably not less than 3-fold relative to a non-modified strain. The expression level of the yggB gene can be determined by measuring the amount of mRNA of yggB gene. Methods of determining the expression level include Northern hybridization and RT-PCR (Molecular cloning (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, Cold Spring Harbor (USA), 2001)). An example of a wild-type coryneform bacterium which can be used as a control includes Corynebacterium glutamicum (Brevibacterium lactofermentum) ATCC13869, ATCC13032, ATCC14067 and C. melassecola ATCC 17965 strain.

The L-glutamic acid-producing ability of the coryneform bacterium which was modified using a yggB gene may be enhanced as compared to a non-modified strain either under L-glutamic acid-producing conditions and/or in the presence of excess biotin. Herein, the “L-glutamic acid producing conditions” include when a substance that induces L-glutamic acid production is added to a conventional medium which contains a carbon source, a nitrogen source, inorganic salts, and a trace amount of organic nutrients, such as amino acids and vitamins, if necessary, and when the amount of a substance that inhibits the L-glutamic acid production is limited in such a conventional medium. The substances that induce L-glutamic acid production include penicillin and surfactants containing saturated fatty acid, such as Tween 40 (Trademark). The substance that inhibits the L-glutamic acid production includes biotin (Amino Acid Fermentation, Japan Scientific Societies Press 1986). The concentration of penicillin in the medium is preferably not less than 0.1 U/ml, more preferably not less than 0.2 U/ml, and still more preferably not less than 0.4 U/ml. The concentration of surfactants in the medium is preferably not less than 0.5 g/L, more preferably not less than 1 g/L, and still more preferably not less than 2 g/L. The concentration of biotin added to the medium under L-glutamic acid-producing conditions is preferably less than 15 g/L, more preferably less than 10 μg/L, and still more preferably less than 5 μg/L. The L-glutamic acid-producing conditions may not contain biotin at all.

On the other hand, the excess biotin-containing conditions may be conditions containing not less than 30 μg/L biotin, more preferably not less than 40 μg/L, and still more preferably not less than 50 μg/L.

Examples of a yggB gene of coryneform bacteria include a DNA encoding the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID No: 6, a DNA encoding the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID No: 62, a DNA encoding the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID No: 68, and a DNA encoding the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID No: 84. Specific examples of a yggB gene of coryneform bacteria include nucleotides 1437-3035 of SEQ ID No: 5, nucleotides 507 to 2093 of SEQ ID No: 61, nucleotides 403 to 2001 of SEQ ID No: 67, and nucleotides 501 to 2099 of SEQ ID No: 83. The nucleotide sequence of nucleotides 501-2099 of SEQ ID No: 83 is the yggB gene of Corynebacterium glutamicum ATCC13032, and corresponds to nucleotide numbers 1336092-1337693 in the genome sequence of GenBank Accession No. NC_(—)003450, and is registered as NCgl 1221 (NP_(—)600492. Reports small-conductance mechanosensitive channel . . . [gi: 19552490]). The nucleotide sequence of nucleotides 1437-3035 of SEQ ID No: 5 is the yggB gene of Corynebacterium glutamicum ATCC13869. The nucleotide sequence of nucleotides 507-2093 of SEQ ID No: 61 is the yggB gene of Corynebacterium glutamicum (Brevibacterium flavum) ATCC14067. The nucleotide sequence of nucleotides 403-2001 of SEQ ID No: 67 is the yggB gene of Corynebacterium melassecola ATCC17965. Furthermore, since the nucleotide sequence of a yggB gene may differ depending on species and strains, the yggB gene used in the present invention may be a variant of the nucleotide sequence of nucleotides 1437-3035 of SEQ ID No: 5. A variant of the yggB gene may be searched for using the nucleotide sequence of nucleotides 1437-3035 of SEQ ID No: 5, for example, by BLAST. A variant of the yggB gene includes a gene obtained by PCR using primers of SEQ ID NOS: 75 and 76. A yggB gene may be a gene derived from other microorganisms so long as it is able to increase the L-glutamic acid-producing ability of coryneform bacteria. A yggB gene may be a mutant-type yggB as described below. The yggB gene used in the present invention is not limited to a gene encoding a protein having the amino acid sequence shown in SEQ ID NO: 6, 62, 68, or 84, and may also include a gene encoding a protein having the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 6, 62, 68, or 84, whereby one or more amino acids are replaced, deleted, inserted, or added at one or more positions, while retaining the ability to enhance L-glutamic acid-producing ability of a coryneform bacterium when the gene is introduced into the coryneform bacterium. Although the number of “several” amino acid residues referred to herein may differ depending on positions in the three-dimensional structure or types of amino acid residues of the protein, it may be preferably 2 to 20, more preferably 2 to 10, particularly preferably 2 to 5. The yggB gene preferably encodes a protein which is not less than 80% homologous, more preferably not less than 90% homologous, even more preferably not less than 95% homologous, and particularly preferably not less than 97% homologous, to the amino acid sequence shown in SEQ ID NO: 6, 62, 68, 84 or 85, while maintaining the ability to enhance the L-glutamic acid-producing ability of coryneform bacterium. Homology between amino acid sequences as well as nucleotide sequences may be determined by algorithms including BLAST developed by Karlin and Altschul (Pro. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 90, 5873(1993)) and FASTA developed by Pearson (Methods Enzymol., 183, 63 (1990)). Homology search programs including BLASTN and BLASTP have been developed based on the algorithm.

The above-mentioned substitution is preferably a conservative substitution. In the case of aromatic amino acids, conservative substitutions include substitutions of phe, trp, and tyr for each other. In the case of hydrophobic amino acids, conservative substitutions include substitutions of leu, ile, and val for each other. In the case of polar amino acids, conservative substitutions include substitutions of gln and asn for each other. In the case of basic amino acids, conservative substitutions include substitutions of arg, lys, and his for each other. In the case of acidic amino acids, conservative substitutions are substitutions of asp and glu for each other. In the case of hydroxyl group-containing amino acids, conservative substitutions are substitutions of ser and thr for each other. The conservative substitutions also include: substitution of Ser or Thr for Ala, substitution of Gln, His, or Lys for Arg, substitution of Glu, Gln, Lys, His, or Asp for Asn, substitution of Asn, Glu, or Gln for Asp, substitution of Ser or Ala for Cys, substitution of Asn, Glu, Lys, His, Asp, or Arg for Gln, substitution of Gly, Asn, Gln, Lys, or Asp for Glu, substitution of Pro for Gly, substitution of Asn, Lys, Gln, Arg, or Tyr for His, substitution of Leu, Met, Val, or Phe for Ile, substitution of Ile, Met, Val, or Phe for Leu, substitution of Asn, Glu, Gln, His, or Arg for Lys, substitution of Ile, Leu, Val, or Phe for Met, substitution of Trp, Tyr, Met, Ile, or Leu for Phe, substitution of Thr or Ala for Ser, substitution of Ser or Ala for Thr, substitution of Phe or Tyr for Trp, substitution of His, Phe, or Trp for Tyr and substitution of Met, Ile, or Leu for Val.

Especially, the following amino acids may be substituted or deleted in the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 6. The amino acid sequence of the YggB protein which is conserved among coryneform bacteria is shown in SEQ ID NO: 85, i.e. a consensus sequence. The Xaa residue shown in SEQ ID NO: 85 may be substituted or deleted.

Glu at position 48 (preferably replaced by Arg)

Asp at position 275 (preferably replaced by Ser)

Glu at position 298 (preferably replaced by Ala)

Ala at position 343 (preferably replaced by Val)

Phe at position 396 (preferably replaced by Ile)

Ser at position 438 (preferably replaced by Gly)

Val at position 445 (preferably replaced by Ala)

Ala at position 454 (preferably replaced by Val)

Pro at position 457 (preferably replaced by Ser)

Ser at position 474 (preferably replaced by Asp)

Val at position 517 (preferably deleted)

Glu at position 518 (preferably deleted)

Ala at position 519 (preferably deleted)

Pro at position 520 (preferably deleted) The above-described yggB gene homologue can be obtained by modifying the nucleotide sequence of nucleotides 1437-3035 of SEQ ID No: 5, nucleotides 507 to 2093 of SEQ ID No: 61, nucleotides 403 to 2001 of SEQ ID No: 67, or nucleotides 501 to 2099 of SEQ ID No: 83 by, for example, site-specific mutagenesis, so that substitution, deletion, insertion, or addition of an amino acid residue or residues occurs at a specific site in the encoded protein. Furthermore, such a gene can also be obtained by a conventionally known mutation treatment. Examples of the mutation treatment include treating a gene having the nucleotide sequence of nucleotides 1437-3035 of SEQ ID No: 5, nucleotides 507 to 2093 of SEQ ID No: 61, nucleotides 403 to 2001 of SEQ ID No: 67, or nucleotides 501 to 2099 of SEQ ID No: 83 in vitro with hydroxylamine, and treating a microorganism, for example, an Escherichia bacterium, harboring the gene with ultraviolet ray irradiation or a mutagenesis agent typically used in mutation treatments, such as N-methyl-N′-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (NTG) or EMS (ethyl methanesulfonate). The mutation for the substitution, deletion, insertion, addition, inversion, or the like of amino acid residues described above also includes a naturally occurring mutation arising from individual differences and differences in species of microorganisms harboring the yggB gene (mutant or variant). Whether these genes are able to enhance the L-glutamic acid-producing ability of coryneform bacterium can be confirmed by, for example, expressing the genes in a wild-type coryneform bacterium and determining if the L-glutamic acid-producing ability of the obtained coryneform bacterium is enhanced relative to a non-modified strain, such as a wild-type strain.

The yggB gene may also be a DNA which is able to hybridize with a DNA having the nucleotide sequence complementary to the nucleotides 1437-3035 of SEQ ID No: 5, nucleotides 507 to 2093 of SEQ ID No: 61, nucleotides 403 to 2001 of SEQ ID No: 67, or nucleotides 501 to 2099 of SEQ ID No: 83, or a probe that can be prepared from any of these nucleotide sequences under stringent conditions and is able to enhance L-glutamic acid-producing ability of coryneform bacterium when it is introduced into the coryneform bacterium.

“Stringent conditions” as used herein are conditions under which a so-called specific hybrid is formed, and a non-specific hybrid is not formed. Examples of stringent conditions include those under which highly homologous DNAs hybridize to each other, for example, DNAs not less than 70% homologous, preferably not less than 80% homologous, more preferably not less than 90% homologous, especially preferably not less than 95% homologous, hybridize to each other, and DNAs lower than 70% homologous do not hybridize to each other, and those under which DNAs hybridize to each other at a salt concentration with washing typical of Southern hybridization, i.e., washing once or preferably 2-3 times with 1×SSC, 0.1% SDS at 60° C., preferably 0.1×SSC, 0.1% SDS at 60° C., more preferably 0.1×SSC, 0.1% SDS at 68° C.

A complementary partial sequence of the yggB gene can also be used as a probe. Such a probe can be prepared by PCR using oligonucleotides which are designed based on the nucleotide sequence of the yggB gene in a manner well known to those skilled in the art. When a DNA fragment having a length of about 300 bp is used as a probe, the washing conditions after hybridization can be exemplified as 2×SSC, 0.1% SDS at 50° C. The oligonucleotides shown in SEQ ID No: 75 and 76 can be used to prepare said probe.

Furthermore, the yggB gene may be a mutant-type yggB gene as described in <II> to <IV> below.

Enhancing the expression of the above-described yggB gene can be attained by increasing the copy number of the yggB gene, modifying an expression regulatory sequence of the yggB gene, amplifying a gene encoding a regulatory factor that increases expression of the yggB gene, or disrupting or attenuating a gene encoding a regulatory factor that reduces expression of the yggB gene, by using transformation with a plasmid or homologous recombination, conjugation, transition, or the like.

For example, a recombinant DNA can be prepared by ligating a gene fragment containing the yggB gene to a vector, preferably a multi-copy vector, which can replicate in coryneform bacterium, and introducing the resulting vector into an L-glutamic acid-producing coryneform bacterium.

The copy number of the yggB gene may also be increased by integrating multiple copies of the yggB gene into a chromosomal DNA of a microorganism. In order to integrate multiple copies of the yggB gene into a chromosomal DNA of a microorganism, homologous recombination can be performed by targeting a sequence which exists in multiple copies on the chromosomal DNA. Repetitive DNA and inverted repeats at an end of a transposon can be used. Alternatively, as disclosed in JP2-109985A, it is also possible to incorporate the yggB gene into a transposon, and transfer it so that multiple copies of the gene are integrated into the chromosomal DNA. Integration of the yggB gene into the chromosome can be confirmed by Southern hybridization using a probe having a partial sequence of the yggB gene.

Hereinafter, an example of a method for constructing a coryneform bacterium which has been modified so that expression of the yggB gene is enhanced is shown. This method can be performed by conventional methods such as those described in Molecular cloning: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, Cold Spring Harbor (USA), 2001.

At first, the yggB gene is cloned from the chromosomal DNA of a coryneform bacterium. The chromosomal DNA can be prepared from a coryneform microorganism by, for example, the method of Saito and Miura (refer to H. Saito and K. Miura, Biochem. Biophys. Acta, 72, 619 (1963), Text for Bioengineering Experiments, Edited by the Society for Bioscience and Bioengineering, Japan, pp. 97-98, Baifukan, 1992). For PCR, oligonucleotides such as those shown in SEQ ID NO: 75 and 76 can be used as primers.

Then, a recombinant DNA is prepared by ligating the amplified yggB gene to a vector DNA that can function in coryneform bacterium. Vectors which are autonomously replicable in Escherichia coli and coryneform bacterium are preferably used for plasmid construction. Examples of vectors which are autonomously replicable in coryneform bacteria include pAM330 (JP58-67699A), pHM1519 (JP58-77895A), pVK7 (US2003-0175912), and pSFK6 (JP2000-262288A), pCRY30 (JP3-210184A), pCRY21, pCRY2KE, pCRY2KX, pCRY31, pCRY3KE, pCRY3KX (JP2-72876A and U.S. Pat. No. 5,185,262), pCRY2, and pCRY3 (JP1-191686), and pAJ655, pAJ611, pAJ1844 (JP58-192900A), pCG1 (JP57-134500A), pCG2 (JP58-35197), pCG4, pCG11 (S57-183799). Examples of vectors autonomously replicable in Escherichia coli include pUC19, pUC18, pHSG299, pHSG399, pHSG398, pACYC184, (pHSG and pACYC are available from Takara Bio), RSF1010, pBR322, pMW219 (pMW is available from Nippon Gene), pTrc99A (Amann et al., Gene 69:301-315(1988), and so forth.

In order to prepare a recombinant DNA by ligating the yggB gene to any of the vectors mentioned above, the vector and a fragment containing the yggB gene are digested with restriction enzymes and ligated to each other, usually by using a ligase such as a T4 DNA ligase.

The recombinant plasmid as prepared above is introduced into the host coryneform bacterium by a conventional transformation method. Examples of transformation methods include treating recipient cells with calcium chloride so to increase permeability of the DNA, which has been reported for Escherichia coli K-12 (Mandel, M. and Higa, A., J. Mol. Biol., 53, 159 (1970)), preparing competent cells from cells which are at the growth phase, followed by transformation with DNA, which has been reported for Bacillus subtilis (Duncan, C. H., Wilson, G. A. and Young, F. E., Gene, 1, 153 (1977)), and so forth. In addition to these methods, introducing a recombinant DNA into protoplast- or spheroplast-like recipient cells, which have been reported to be applicable to Bacillus subtilis, actinomycetes, and yeasts (Chang, S. and Choen, S. N., Molec. Gen. Genet., 168, 111 (1979); Bibb, M. J., Ward, J. M. and Hopwood, O. A., Nature, 274, 398 (1978); Hinnen, A., Hicks, J. B. and Fink, G. R., Proc. Natl. Sci., USA, 75, 1929 (1978)), can be employed. In addition, transformation of microorganisms can also be performed by the electric pulse method (JP2-207791A).

The copy number of a yggB gene can also be increased by integrating multiple copies of the gene into a chromosomal DNA of a coryneform bacterium. In order to integrate multiple copies of a yggB gene into a chromosomal DNA of a coryneform bacterium, homologous recombination can be carried out by targeting a sequence which exists in multiple copies on a chromosomal DNA. Repetitive DNA and inverted repeats at the end of a transposon can be used as a sequence which exists in multiple copies on a chromosomal DNA. Alternatively, as disclosed in EP0332488B and Vertes, A. A., Asai, Y., Inui, M., Kobayashi, M., Kurusu, Y. and Yukawa, H.: Mol. Gen. Genet., 245, 397-405 (1994), it is also possible to incorporate a yggB gene into a transposon, and transfer it so that multiple copies of the yggB gene are integrated into the chromosomal DNA.

Furthermore, a yggB gene can also be incorporated into a host chromosome by using Mu phage (EP0332488B) or conjugation method (Biotechnology (N Y). 1991 January; 9(1):84-7). Furthermore, the copy number of the yggG gene can also be increased by using the artificial transposon described below.

Furthermore, yggB gene may be amplified on a chromosome by inserting the yggB gene into a plasmid which has a replication origin not capable of replicating in a host coryneform bacterium or into a plasmid which has a replication origin not capable of replicating in a host coryneform bacterium and has an ability to transfer by conjugation. Examples of such a plasmid include pSUP301 (Simo et al., Bio/Technology 1, 784-791 (1983)), pK18mob and pK19mob (Schaefer et al., Gene 145, 69-73 (1994)), pGEM-T (Promega corporation, Madison, Wis., USA), pCR2.1-TOPO (Shuman (1994) Journal of Biological Chemisty 269: 32678-84; U.S. Pat. No. 5,487,993), pCR(R)Blunt (Invitrogen, Groningen, Netherlands; Bernard et al., Journal of Molecular Biology, 234: 534-541 (1993)), pEM1 (Schrumpf et al., 1991, Journal of Bacteriology 173: 4510-4516), and pBGS8 (Spratt et al., 1986, Gene, 41:337-342). A plasmid containing a yggB gene is transferred into coryneform bacterium by conjugation or transformation. Gene transfer by conjugation can be performed, for example, by a method described in Schaefer et al. (Applied and Environmental Microbiology 60, 756-759 (1994)). Gene transfer by transformation can be performed, for example, by a method described in Theirbach et al. (Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology 29, 356-362 (1988)), Dunican and Shivinan (Bio/Technology 7, 1067-1070 (1989)), and Tauch et al. (FEMS Microbiological Letters 123, 343-347 (1994)).

Enhancing the expression of a yggB gene can also be attained by replacing an expression regulatory sequence, including a promoter of the yggB gene, on a chromosomal DNA or on a plasmid, with a stronger one, by modifying an element involved in regulating expression of the yggB gene such as an operator and/or a repressor, or by fusing a strong terminator downstream the stop codon of the yggB gene (Hamilton et al.; Journal of Bacterology 171:4617-4622). For example, the lac promoter, trp promoter, trc promoter, PL promoter, PS2 promoter (Appl Environ Microbiol. 2003 January; 69(1):358-66; Mol Microbiol. 1993 July; 9(1):97-109; WO93/03158), and so forth are known as strong promoters. A method for evaluating the strength of promoters and examples of strong promoters are disclosed in Goldstein et al. (Prokaryotic promoters in biotechnology. Biotechnol. Annul. Rev., 1995, 1, 105-128). Moreover, it is also possible to introduce several nucleotide substitutions into the promoter region for the yggB gene so that the promoter is stronger (WO00/18935). For example, the “−35 region” may be replaced with “TTGACA” or “TTGCCA”, or the “−10 region” may be replaced with “TATAAT” or “TATAAC”. Furthermore, it is known that a spacer sequence between the ribosome binding site (RBS) and translation initiation codon, especially, several nucleotides just upstream of the initiation codon, has a great influence on translation efficiency. Therefore, this sequence may be modified. “Expression regulatory sequence” of yggB gene means a region which influences the expression amount of yggB gene, and an example thereof includes an upstream region of yggB gene. The upstream region suitable for modification to enhance yggB gene expression includes a region upstream of the translation initiation codon of the yggB gene (for example, a region upstream of the nucleotide 1436 of SEQ ID NO: 5), and a preferable example thereof includes a region at least 500 bp upstream of the translation initiation codon, and a more preferable example thereof includes a region at least 300 bp upstream the translation initiation codon.

The substitution of an expression regulatory sequence can also be attained by, for example, using a temperature-sensitive plasmid as described above.

Modifying the expression regulatory sequence may be combined with increasing the copy number of the yggB gene.

<II> Introduction of a Mutant-Type yggB Gene

A modification using the yggB gene may be introducing a mutant-type yggB gene into a coryneform bacterium. Introduction of a mutant-type yggB gene includes introducing a mutation into a chromosomal yggB gene, introducing a plasmid comprising a mutant-type yggB gene, and replacement of a chromosomal yggB gene with a mutant-type yggB gene.

In the present invention, the “mutant-type yggB gene” means a yggB gene comprising a mutation in its coding region which allows the yggB gene to enhance L-glutamic acid-producing ability of a coryneform bacterium in the presence of excess biotin when it is introduced into the coryneform bacterium. A mutant-type yggB gene may be a gene which enhances L-glutamic acid-producing ability of coryneform bacterium under L-glutamic acid-producing conditions as well as in the presence of excess biotin, when it is introduced into the coryneform bacterium.

The phrase “L-glutamic acid-producing ability of coryneform bacterium in the presence of excess biotin is enhanced” means that, when the coryneform bacterium of the present invention is cultured in a medium containing biotin at a concentration which a non-modified strain of coryneform bacterium cannot substantially produce L-glutamic acid, for example, in a medium containing not less than 30 μg/L of biotin, the strain causes accumulation of more L-glutamic acid in the medium than that of a non-modified strain, or the strain produces L-glutamic acid at higher rates than that of the non-modified strain.

Hereinafter, examples of the method of obtaining the mutant-type yggB gene of the present invention and the method of introducing the mutant-type yggB gene are described. However, the method of obtaining the mutant-type yggB gene of the present invention and the method of introducing the mutant-type yggB gene are not limited to these examples.

(II-1) Method of Utilizing odhA Gene-Deficient Strain

The inventors of the present invention have found that a mutant type yggB gene can be efficiently obtained by using an odhA (sucA) gene-disrupted strain in which a gene encoding the E1o subunit of α-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase is disrupted.

In the present invention, α-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase (α-KDGH) activity means an activity to catalyze the oxidative decarboxylating of α-ketoglutaric acid (2-oxoglutaric acid) to generate succinyl-CoA. The reaction is catalyzed by three kinds of enzymes, i.e., α-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase (E1o EC 1.2.4.2), dihydrolipoamide-S-succinyltransferase (E2o), and dihydrolipoamide dehydrogenase (E3). α-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase is also called oxoglutarate dehydrogenase (succinyl-transferase) or 2-oxoglutarate dehydrogenase. The α-KGDH activity can be measured by the method of Shiio et al. (Isamu Shiio and Kyoko Ujigawa-Takeda, Agric. Biol. Chem., 44(8), 1897-1904, 1980).

The nucleotide sequence of the gene encoding the E1o subunit of α-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase (odhA) of coryneform bacterium has already been identified (Microbiology 142, 3347-3354, (1996), GenBank accession No. D84102). The nucleotide sequence of the odhA gene is shown in nucleotides 443-4213 of SEQ ID NO: 43 and the amino acid sequence of the odhA gene is shown in SEQ ID NO: 44.

The odhA gene-disrupted strain can be obtained, for example, by a method using the above-mentioned sacB gene. At first, the internal sequence of odhA gene is amplified by PCR using primers designed based on the nucleotide sequence of the odhA gene, such as those shown in SEQ ID NOS: 1 and 2, and a chromosomal DNA of coryneform bacterium such as ATCCC13869 strain as a template. The internal fragment of the odhA gene is inserted into a plasmid to construct a plasmid for odhA gene-disruption. The plasmids used for gene disruption include temperature-sensitive plasmids for coryneform bacteria (JP-A-05-00791), and pBS3, which is a suicide vector that comprises a sacB gene as described in Example 1.

The obtained plasmid is introduced into a strain that cannot cause accumulation of L-glutamic acid in the presence of excess biotin, for example, a wild-type C. glutamicum ATCC13869, ATCC13032 strain, by the electric pulse method (JP-A-2-207791). A single cross-over recombinant is obtained in which homologous recombination between the mutant-type odhA gene on the plasmid and the chromosomal odhA gene has occurred. When the temperature-sensitive plasmid is used, a single cross-over recombinant is obtained at a temperature at which the plasmids cannot replicate. Whether the strain is a single cross-over recombinant or not can be confirmed, for example, by using oligonucleotides of SEQ ID NOS: 3 and 4.

The thus obtained odhA gene-disrupted strain is isolated in a medium containing sugar. In the process of isolation, a spontaneous mutation is introduced into the chromosomal yggB gene at a high frequency. Then, the ability of the isolated strain to produce L-glutamic acid is evaluated by culturing the strain in a medium containing excess biotin. For example, a candidate strain is inoculated in 20 ml of culture medium (30 g/l glucose, 15 g/l ammonium sulfate, 1 g/l KH₂PO₄, 0.4 g/l MgSO₄.7H₂O, 0.01 g/l FeSO₄.7H₂O, 0.01 g/l MnSO₄.4-5H₂O, 200 μg/l vitamin B1, 300 μg/l biotin, 0.48 g/l soybean hydrolysates (total nitrogen), adjusted to pH 8.0 with KOH: autoclaved at 115° C. for 10 minutes), followed by addition of 1 g of heat-sterilized calcium carbonate, and the strain is cultured with shaking. After the sugar is completely consumed, the amount of accumulated L-glutamic acid is measured. Strains which produce L-glutamic acid, for example, those which produce not less than 50% (yield per sugar) of L-glutamic acid are selected, and the nucleotide sequence of the yggB gene of the selected strains are determined to obtain a strain in which a mutation is introduced into the yggB gene.

To construct a strain carrying only the mutant-type yggB gene, it is preferable to replace the odhA gene on the chromosome disrupted by the plasmid with a wild-type odhA gene. Strains deficient in the odhA gene grow considerably slower in a medium without sugar. However, when the odhA gene reverts to the wild-type gene, the strain can grow well in a medium without sugar, for example, CM2B medium (10 g/l polypeptone, 10 g/l yeast extract, 5 g/l NaCl, 10 μg/l biotin, 20 g/l agar, adjusted to pH 7.0 with KOH). Therefore, the odhA gene-disrupted strain is spread over a CM2B plate to select growth-improved strains. The thus appeared growth-improved strains are purified on the CM2B plate, and whether the strain has the wild-type odhA gene can be estimated by testing the sensitivity of the strain to antibiotics based on the absence of remaining vectors. Furthermore, the nucleotide sequence of the odhA gene may be determined.

Alternatively, the mutant-type yggB gene may be cloned from the odhA-yggB double mutant strain, and introduced into a wild-type strain. For example, the mutant-type yggB gene can be amplified by performing PCR using the chromosomal DNA of the double mutant strain as a template and the primers shown in SEQ ID NOS: 9 and 10. The amplified product is inserted in a temperature-sensitive plasmid for coryneform bacteria, such as pHSC4 (JP-A-05-007491), or pBS3, a suicide vector described in Example 1 to replace a wild-type yggB gene on a chromosome with the mutant-type yggB gene. Whether a mutation is introduced into the yggB on the chromosome can be confirmed by determining the nucleotide sequence of the yggB gene on the chromosome.

(II-2) Method of Utilizing a Transposable Element

The coryneform bacteria having a mutant-type yggB gene may also be screened for by using a transposable element in coryneform bacteria. The transposable element may include an insertion sequence (IS) and an artificial transposon. The mutant-yggB gene may be a gene having an IS and/or transposon accidentally-inserted into the coding region, or a gene obtained artificially by using the artificial transposon. A strain in which a transposable element is inserted can be selected, for example, based on a decrease in sensitivity to 1-glutamic acid analogs. As an L-glutamic acid analog, 4-fluoroglutamic acid can be used. Furthermore, a strain in which a transposable element is inserted can be selected by randomly selecting antibiotics-resistant strains with an artificial transposon containing an antibiotics-resistant gene, and confirming a length of a yggB gene of the antibiotics-resistant strains by PCR.

The method described in JP-A-09-070291 may be used to introduce the IS into coryneform bacteria. An artificial transposon which includes a structural gene of a transposase and a marker gene sandwiched between inverted repeats (IR) on both sides of the IS may be used. In this case, the structural gene of a transposase may be present together with the marker gene and IS in the same plasmid or may be on a separate plasmid. Alternatively, the function of the transposon that is present on the chromosome of the host coryneform bacterium may be utilized. Examples of genes encoding a transposase derived from coryneform bacterium are shown by GenBank Accession numbers.

 1. NCgl0179 Cgl0182; transposase  2. NCgl0235 Cgl0238; putative transposase  3. NCgl0348 Cgl0355; putative transposase  4. NCgl0688 Cgl0718; putative transposase  5. NCgl0919 Cgl0959; transposase  6. NCgl0993 Cgl1037; transposase  7. NCgl1021 Cgl1066; transposase  8. NCgl1464 Cgl1521; putative transposase  9. NCgl1496 Cgl1557; transposase 10. NCgl1662 Cgl1733; putative transposase 11. NCgl1664 Cgl1734; transposase 12. NCgl2131 Cgl2212; transposase 13. NCgl2284 Cgl2367; transposase 14. NCgl2392 Cgl2479; putative transposase 15. NCgl2418 Cgl2504; putative transposase 16. NCgl2420 Cgl2506; putative transposase 17. NCgl2460 Cgl2548; predicted transposase 18. NCgl2542 Cgl2631; predicted transposase 19. NCgl2665 Cgl2761; putative transposase 20. NCgl2748 Cgl2845; putative transposase 21. NCgl2850 Cgl2951; predicted transposase

The IS or artificial transposon may be introduced into coryneform bacteria using a suitable vector, for example, a plasmid replicable in coryneform bacteria. Specific examples of the plasmid include pHM1519 (Agric. Biol. Chem., 48, 2901-2903 (1984)), pAM330 (Agric. Biol. Chem., 48, 2901-2903 (1984)), and plasmids obtained by modifying these to carry a drug-resistant gene. Furthermore, to efficiently amplify the IS or artificial transposon on the chromosome, a plasmid having a temperature-sensitive replication origin as described in the above (1) is preferably used (see JP-A-5-7491). The parent strain used for this screening is preferably a strain that cannot cause accumulation of L-glutamic acid in the presence of excess biotin, for example, the ATCC13869 strain, which is a wild-type strain of C. glutamicum.

As the method of introducing the plasmid carrying the IS or artificial transposon into coryneform bacteria, conventionally used methods, such as the protoplast method (Gene, 39, 281-286 (1985)), electroporation method (Bio/Technology, 7, 1067-1070 (1989)), and the like may be used.

Introduction of the IS or artificial transposon carried on the temperature-sensitive plasmid into coryneform bacteria can be performed by transforming the coryneform bacteria with the plasmid, culturing the transformants at 25° C. at which the plasmids can replicate to amplify the IS or artificial transposon at several tens to several hundreds copies per cell to enable introduction of the IS or artificial transposon into the chromosome, and then culturing the cells at 34° C. to remove the excess plasmids. Alternatively, a DNA fragment of only IS or artificial transposon or a plasmid vector that cannot replicate in coryneform bacteria (for example, plasmid vector replicable in Escherichia coli) may be used to introduce the IS or artificial transposon into the chromosome of the coryneform bacteria (JP-A-7-107976, Vertes, A. A., Asai, Y., Inui, M., Kobayashi, M., Kurusu, Y. and Yukawa, H.: Mol. Gen. Genet., 245, 397-405 (1994)).

The strain which has the IS or artificial transposon on the chromosome is cultured in a medium containing excess biotin so to select a strain that causes accumulation of L-glutamic acid. By determining the nucleotide sequence of the yggB gene on the chromosome of this strain, a coryneform bacterium having a mutant-type yggB gene can be obtained.

(II-3) Method of Randomly Introducing a Mutation into the yggB Gene In Vitro

Furthermore, the mutant-type yggB gene can be obtained by randomly introducing a mutation into the yggB gene in vitro, introducing the mutated gene into coryneform bacterium, and screening for strains which produce L-glutamic acid in the presence of excess biotin as a result of the presence of the mutant-type yggB gene. The parent strain useful for screening is preferably a strain that cannot cause accumulation of L-glutamic acid in the presence of excess biotin, for example, Corynebacterium glutamicum ATCC13869 strain, ATCC13032 strain, ATCC14067 strain, and Corynebacterium melassecola ATCC17965 strain.

To screen for a mutant-type yggB gene, a yggB-deficient strain is preferably used. The construction of the yggB gene-disrupted strain can be performed by a method similar to the above-mentioned method in which the sacB gene is used. For example, PCR is performed using primers shown in SEQ ID NOS: 39 and 40 and the chromosomal DNA of C. glutamicum ATCC13869 as a template to prepare an N-terminal fragment of the yggB gene. Similarly, PCR is performed using synthetic DNAs of SEQ ID NOS: 41 and 42 as primers to prepare a C-terminal fragment. SEQ ID NOS: 40 and 41 are complementary to each other. Subsequently, PCR is performed using a mixture of equimolar amounts of the N-terminal fragment and the C-terminal fragment as a template and synthetic DNAs of SEQ ID NOS: 39 and 42 as primers to prepare a fragment in which an internal sequence of yggB gene is deleted.

The obtained PCR fragment is inserted into a plasmid for gene disruption, for example, pBS4S carrying the levan sucrase gene. The obtained plasmid is introduced into the chromosome of coryneform bacterium, for example, C. glutamicum ATCC13869 strain to construct a yggB gene-disrupted strain.

Then, for example, in vitro mutagenesis of the yggB gene can be performed as follows. First, yggB is cloned into a plasmid that can replicate in coryneform bacterium. About 10 μg of the obtained yggB gene-carrying plasmid is dissolved in a buffer containing mutagens, for example, 500 mM phosphate buffer containing 400 mM hydroxylamine and 1 mM EDTA (pH 6.0), and heated at 75° C. for 60 to 90 minutes to introduce a mutation into the yggB gene. After mutagenesis, the plasmid is desalted with SUPREC-02 (Takara Bio INC.) or the like, and then introduced into ATCC13869 ΔyggB strain, and transformants are screened in a medium containing an antibiotic. As a control, yggB gene-carrying plasmid without mutagenesis is introduced into the ATCC13869 ΔyggB strain. The emerged transformants are inoculated into a medium containing excess biotin and cultured with shaking, and then the concentration of accumulated L-glutamic acid is determined. L-glutamic acid does not substantially accumulate in a medium in which the wild-type yggB gene-carrying plasmid-introduced strain is cultured, whereas a significant amount of L-glutamic acid accumulates in a medium in which the mutant-type yggB gene-carrying plasmid-introduced strain is cultured. Whether the strain carries a mutant-type yggB gene or not can be confirmed by extracting a plasmid from the strain and determining the nucleotide sequence of the yggB gene.

Alternatively, a mutant-type yggB gene can be obtained by artificially introducing mutations into the yggB gene by such methods as error prone PCR, DNA shuffling, and StEP-PCR (Firth A E, Patrick W M; Bioinformatics. 2005 Jun. 2; Statistics of protein library construction).

The methods of introducing a mutation into the yggB gene on the chromosome include, besides the above-mentioned method, a method of treating a coryneform bacterium with irradiation of X-rays or ultraviolet rays or with a mutagen such as N-methyl-N′-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine, and selecting a strain which produces L-glutamic acid in the presence of excess biotin. Whether the mutant-type yggB gene has been introduced or not can be confirmed by determining the nucleotide sequence of the yggB gene on the chromosome.

(II-4) Method of Screening L-Glutamic Acid Analog-Resistant Strains

Mutant-type yggB genes may be obtained by culturing a coryneform bacterium having a wild-type yggB gene in a medium containing an L-glutamic acid analog, and selecting L-glutamic acid analog-resistant strains which can grow in the medium. A parent strain used in this method is preferably a wild-type strain of coryneform bacterium as described above, and may be any strain having a wild-type yggB gene, including a strain having a plasmid containing a wild-type yggB gene.

“L-glutamic acid analogs” as used herein include γ-methyl L-glutamate, α-methyl glutamic acid, β-hydroxyglutamic acid, methioninesulfoximine, glutamic acid-γ-monohydroxamate, 2-amino-4-phosphonobutyric acid, γ-monoethyl L-glutamate, dimethyl L-glutamate, di-t-butyl L-glutamate, monofluoroglutamic acid, diethyl L-glutamate, D-glutamic acid, and 4-fluoroglutamic acid, and among these, 4-fluoroglutamic acid is preferably used. For example, L-glutamic acid analog-resistant strains can be obtained as follows. That is, a coryneform bacterium is inoculated on a minimum medium containing an L-glutamic acid analog, and colonies that have appeared after 24-48 hours are collected. Concentration of the L-glutamic acid analog added to the medium is preferably a concentration at which a strain having a non-mutated yggB gene cannot grow and a strain having a mutated yggB gene can grow. Specifically, the concentration of 4-fluoroglutamic acid is 1.25 mM or more, preferably 2.5 mM or more, and more preferably 5 mM or more. For example, “L-glutamic acid analog-resistant strain” as used herein means that when the strain is cultured in a minimum medium containing 4-fluoroglutamic acid where the viable cell count (number of cells capable of forming colonies) of a wild-type strain is suppressed to not more than 1/100 that of when in the absence of 4-fluoroglutamic acid, the strain exhibits 1/10 or more growth of the strain cultured in the absence of 4-fluoroglutamic acid.

The obtained L-glutamic acid analog-resistant strains are inoculated into a liquid medium containing excess biotin and cultured with shaking, followed by measurement of the concentration of L-glutamic acid which has accumulated in the medium. Whereas a strain having a wild-type yggB gene accumulates little L-glutamic acid, some of the L-glutamic acid analog-resistant strains accumulate a significant amount of L-glutamic acid. The yggB gene is amplified from such a strain and the nucleotide sequence thereof is determined, and thereby, a novel mutant-type yggB gene can be obtained.

(III) Mutant-Type yggB Genes

Hereinafter, specific examples of the mutant-type yggB gene are described. However, the mutant-type yggB gene of the present invention is not limited to these genes.

The mutant type yggB gene obtained by the above-mentioned method is not particularly limited so long as it has a function to enhance the L-glutamic acid-producing ability of a coryneform bacterium in the presence of excess biotin when it is introduced into the coryneform bacterium.

(III-1) Mutation in the C-Terminal Region of the yggB Gene

This mutation is introduced into the region encoding amino acids 419-533 of SEQ ID NO: 6, 68, 84 or 85, or amino acids 419-529 of SEQ ID NO: 62. For example, in SEQ ID NO: 5, this region corresponds to the region consisting of nucleotides 2692 to 3035. This mutation may be of any type, so long as it is introduced into the region, and includes point mutations and insertion of an artificial sequence. Among these, mutations which introduce an insertion sequence (IS) or an artificial transposon are preferable. The mutation may cause amino acid substitution (mis-sense mutation), frame-shift, or stop codon (non-sense mutation) as a result of the point mutation, insertion of IS, or transposon.

(III-1-1) The Mutation by Insertion of Transposable Element (2A-1 Type Mutation)

Examples of a mutation in the C-terminal region include a mutation which inserts a transposable element such as insertion sequence (IS) next to the “G” at position 2691 of SEQ ID NO: 5. The nucleotide sequence of the mutant-type yggB gene having this mutation is shown in SEQ ID NO: 7, and the amino acid sequence of the mutant type YggB protein encoded by the gene is shown in SEQ ID NO: 8. The IS inserted into the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 7 has high homology to IS1207 (GenBank accession No. X96962) and IS719 (GenBank accession No. E12759). In the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 8, the C-terminal region containing the Val at position 419 and thereafter of the Ygg protein (SEQ ID NO: 6) is replaced by a shorter IS-derived sequence. This type of mutation, including the mutations changing or deleting the C-terminal region in the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NOS: 6, 62, 68, 84 and 85, is named a 2A-1-type mutation.

Furthermore, the 2A-1-type mutation also includes other mutations which introduce another IS or transposon into the same site as the 2A-1 type mutation. The position at which the IS or transposon is inserted may be any position so long as it is located within the above-described region. It is preferable that an IS is inserted into a position where the transposase can readily recognize it, or hot spots where an IS is easy to insert.

(III-1-2) The mutation which results in replacement of the proline with another amino acid (66-type and 22-type mutations) Furthermore, an example of a mutation in the C-terminal region also includes a mutation which results in replacement of the proline in C-terminal region with another amino acid. The prolines at the following positions may be substituted with another amino acid in the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 6.

Pro at position 424 (424 in SEQ ID NO: 62, 68, 84, 85)

Pro at position 437 (437 in SEQ ID NO: 62, 68, 84, 85)

Pro at position 453 (453 in SEQ ID NO: 62, 68, 84, 85)

Pro at position 457 (457 in SEQ ID NO: 62, 68, 84, 85)

Pro at position 462 (462 in SEQ ID NO: 62, 68, 84, 85)

Pro at position 469 (469 in SEQ ID NO: 62, 68, 84, 85)

Pro at position 484 (484 in SEQ ID NO: 62, 68, 84, 85)

Pro at position 489 (489 in SEQ ID NO: 62, 68, 84, 85)

Pro at position 497 (497 in SEQ ID NO: 62, 68, 84, 85)

Pro at position 515 (515 in SEQ ID NO: 62, 68, 84, 85)

Pro at position 529 (529 in SEQ ID NO: 68, 84, 85, 525 in SEQ ID NO:62)

Pro at position 533 (533 in SEQ ID NO: 68, 84, 85, 529 in SEQ ID NO:62)

It is considered that the proline residues in the C-terminal region of the YggB protein play an important role in maintainance of three-dimensional structure of the YggB protein (Protein Eng. 2002 January; 15(1):29-33, J Biol. Chem. 1991 Dec. 25; 266(36):24287-94.).

Especially, replacing the proline at position 424 and/or the proline at position 437 in SEQ ID NO: 6, 62, 68, 84 or 85 with another amino acid are preferable.

Examples of the other amino acid include Ala, Arg, Asp, Asn, Cys, Glu, Gln, Gly, His, Ile, Met, Leu, Lys, Phe, Ser, Trp, Tyr, Val, and Thr. As the other amino acid replacing the proline at position 424, hydrophobic amino acids such as Ala, Gly, Val, Leu, and Ile are preferable, and amino acids having branched chain such as Leu, Val, and Ile are more preferable. An example of a mutation which replaces Pro at position 424 with Leu includes a mutation which replaces “C” at position 1673 with “T” in SEQ ID NO: 67. The nucleotide sequence of the mutant type yggB gene having this mutation is shown in SEQ ID NO: 69 and the amino acid sequence of the mutant type YggB protein encoded by the gene is shown in SEQ ID NO: 70.

As the other amino acid replacing the proline at position 437, amino acids containing a hydroxyl-group such as Thr, Ser, Tyr are preferable, and amino acids having Ser are more preferable. An example of a mutation which replaces Pro at position 437 with Ser includes a mutation which replaces “C” at position 2745 with “T” in SEQ ID NO:5. Moreover, this mutation may be accompanied by the mutation which replaces the “C” at position 3060 with “T” in SEQ ID NO: 5. The nucleotide sequence of the mutant type yggB gene having this mutation is shown in SEQ ID NO: 73 and the amino acid sequence of the mutant type YggB protein encoded by the gene is shown in SEQ ID NO: 74.

(III-2) Mutation in a Transmembrane Region of the yggB Gene

The YggB protein encoded by the yggB gene is presumed to have five transmembrane regions. In the amino acid sequence of the wild-type YggB protein shown in SEQ ID NOs: 6, 62, 68, 84 and 85, the transmembrane regions correspond to amino acids 1 to 23 (first transmembrane region), amino acids 25 to 47 (second transmembrane region), amino acids 62 to 84 (third transmembrane region), amino acids 86 to 108 (fourth transmembrane region), and amino acids 110 to 132 (fifth transmembrane region). In SEQ ID NO: 5, nucleotides encoding these regions correspond to nucleotides 1437 to 1505, nucleotides 1509 to 1577, nucleotides 1620 to 1688, nucleotides 1692 to 1760, and nucleotides 1764 to 1832, respectively. This type of mutation is preferably introduced into these regions. This kind of mutation preferably introduces a substitution, deletion, addition, insertion, or inversion of one or more amino acids into these regions without causing a frame shift mutation and a translation termination. Among these, mis-sense mutations causing amino acid substitutions in the above-mentioned regions is preferable. The number of “several” amino acids to be substituted, deleted, added, inserted, or inverted means 2 to 20, preferably 2 to 10, more preferably 2 to 5, and still more preferably 2 or 3. The mutations causing insertion and deletion of one or several amino acids without a frame shift are also preferable, and, more preferably, insertion or deletion of 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18 or 21 nucleotides, still more preferably, deletion or insertion of 3, 6, or 9 nucleotides, and much more preferably, deletion or insertion of 3 nucleotides.

Specific examples of a mutation in the transmembrane regions include the following:

(III-2-1) Mutation in the First Transmembrane Region (A1-Type Mutation)

This type of mutation includes one which introduces one or more amino acids between the leucine at position 14 and the tryptophan at position 15 in the amino acid sequence shown by SEQ ID NOs: 6, 62, 68, 84 and 85, and more specifically includes a mutation which introduces three amino acids, for example, Cys-Ser-Leu, between the Leu at position 14 and the tryptophan at position 15. This mutation includes insertion of TTCATTGTG next to the G at position 1480 in the wild-type yggB gene of SEQ ID NO: 5. The nucleotide sequence of the mutant-type yggB gene having this mutation is shown in SEQ ID NO: 19 and the amino acid sequence of the mutant type YggB protein encoded by the gene is shown in SEQ ID NO: 20.

(III-2-2) Mutation in the 4th Transmembrane Region (19-Type Mutation)

This type of mutation includes replacing the Ala at position 100 with another amino acid in the amino acid sequence shown in SEQ ID NOs: 6, 62, 68, 84 and 85. Examples of the other amino acid include Arg, Asp, Asn, Cys, Glu, Gln, Gly, His, Ile, Met, Leu, Lys, Phe, Pro, Ser, Trp, Tyr, Val, and Thr. Of these, amino acids containing a hydroxyl-group such as Thr, Ser, and Tyr are preferable and, threonine is more preferable. A mutation which replaces the Ala at position 100 with Thr includes a mutation which replaces the “G” at position 1734 with “A” of SEQ ID NO: 5.

The nucleotide sequence of the mutant type yggB gene having this mutation is shown in SEQ ID NO: 21 and the amino acid sequence of the mutant type YggB protein encoded by the gene is shown in SEQ ID NO: 22.

(III-2-3) Mutation in the 5th Transmembrane Region (L30-Type Mutation, 8-Type Mutation)

This type of mutation includes one which replaces the Ala at position 111 with another amino acid in the amino acid sequence shown in SEQ ID NOs: 6, 62, 68, 84 and 85. Examples of the other amino acid include Arg, Asp, Asn, Cys, Glu, Gln, Gly, His, Ile, Met, Leu, Lys, Phe, Pro, Ser, Trp, Tyr, Val, and Thr. Of these, amino acids containing branched chains such as Val, Ile, and Leu, and amino acids containing hydroxyl-group such as Thr, Ser, and Tyr are preferable, and Val or Thr is preferable. This type of mutation includes one which replaces the “C” at position 1768 with a “T” in the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 5 (L30-type mutation), and a mutation which replaces the “G” at position 837 with an “A” in the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 61 (8-type mutation). The nucleotide sequence of the mutant-type yggB gene having an L30-type mutation is shown in SEQ ID NO: 23 and the amino acid sequence of the mutant type YggB protein encoded by this gene is shown in SEQ ID NO: 24. The nucleotide sequence of the mutant-type yggB gene having 8-type mutation is shown in SEQ ID NO: 63 and the amino acid sequence of the mutant type YggB protein encoded by this gene is shown in SEQ ID NO: 64.

(IV) Equivalents of the Mutant-Type yggB Genes

The “mutant type yggB gene” used in the present invention may be a functionally equivalent gene that is substantially homologous to the above-mentioned “mutant type yggB genes”, for example, a mutant type gene comprising a nucleotide sequence that is able to hybridize to a nucleotide sequence complementary to at least one of the nucleotide sequences selected from the group consisting of the nucleotides 1437 to 2705 of SEQ ID NO: 7, the nucleotides 1437 to 3044 of SEQ ID NO: 19, the nucleotides 1437 to 3035 of SEQ ID NO: 21, the nucleotides 507 to 2093 of SEQ ID NO: 63, the nucleotides 403 to 2001 of SEQ ID NO: 69, and the nucleotides 1437 to 3035 of SEQ ID NO: 23, the nucleotides 548 to 2146 of SEQ ID NO: 73 with a probe prepared from these nucleotide sequences under stringent conditions, so long as the gene has a function to enhance L-glutamic acid-producing ability of a coryneform bacterium in the presence of excess biotin.

“Stringent conditions” as used herein are conditions under which a so-called specific hybrid is formed, and a non-specific hybrid is not formed. Examples of stringent conditions include, those under which DNAs having high homology hybridize to each other, for example, DNAs having a homology of not less than 70%, preferably not less than 80%, more preferably not less than 90%, especially preferably not less than 95%, hybridize to each other, and DNAs having homology lower than 70% do not hybridize to each other, and those under which DNAs hybridize to each other at a salt concentration with washing typical of Southern hybridization, i.e., washing once or preferably 2-3 times under 1×SSC, 0.1% SDS at 60° C., preferably 0.1×SSC, 0.1% SDS at 60° C., more preferably 0.1×SSC, 0.1% SDS at 68° C.

The mutant-type yggB gene used in the present invention includes a gene encoding a protein having the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NOs: 8, 20, 22, 24, 64, 70, or 74 whereby one or more amino acids are replaced, deleted, inserted or added at one or more positions other than the specific amino acid as described above, while maintaining a function to enhance L-glutamic acid-producing ability of a coryneform bacterium in the presence of excess biotin. Although the number of “several” amino acid residues referred to herein may differ depending on positions in the three-dimensional structure or types of amino acid residues of the protein, it may be preferably 2 to 20, more preferably 2 to 10, particularly preferably 2 to 5.

The yggB gene preferably encodes a protein having the above-described specific amino acid substitution or deletion and having homology of not less than 70%, more preferably not less than 80%, further more preferably not less than 90%, particularly preferably not less than 95% to the amino acid sequence shown in SEQ ID NOs: 8, 20, 22 or 24, 64, 70, or 74 while maintaining a function to enhance L-glutamic acid-producing ability of a coryneform bacterium in the presence of excess biotin. The above-mentioned substitution is preferably a conservative substitution (neutral mutation). In the case of aromatic amino acids, conservative substitutions include substitutions of phe, trp, and tyr for each other. In the case of hydrophobic amino acids, conservative substitutions include substitutions of leu, ile, and val for each other. In the case of polar amino acids, conservative substitutions include substitutions of gln and asn for each other. In the case of basic amino acids, conservative substitutions include substitutions of arg, lys, and his for each other. In the case of acidic amino acids, conservative substitutions are substitutions of asp and glu for each other. In the case of hydroxyl group-containing amino acids, conservative substitutions include substitutions of ser and thr for each other. The conservative substitutions also include: substitution of ser or thr for Ala, substitution of Gln, His or Lys for Arg, substitution of Glu, Gln, Lys, His or Asp for Asn, substitution of Asn, Glu or Gln for Asp, substitution of Ser or Ala for Cys, substitution of Asn, Glu, Lys, His, Asp or Arg for Gln, substitution of Gly, Asn, Gln, Lys or Asp for Glu, substitution of Pro for Gly, substitution of Asn, Lys, Gln, Arg or Tyr for His, substitution of Leu, Met, Val or Phe for Ile, substitution of Ile, Met, Val or Phe for Leu, substitution of Asn, Glu, Gln, His or Arg for Lys, substitution of Ile, Leu, Val or Phe for Met, substitution of Trp, Tyr, Met, Ile or Leu for Phe, substitution of Thr or Ala for Ser, substitution of Ser or Ala for Thr, substitution of Phe or Tyr for Trp, substitution of His, Phe or Trp for Tyr and substitution of Met, Ile or Leu for Val. As mentioned above, the amino acids shown as Xaa may be substituted in the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 85.

Especially, the following amino acids may be substituted or deleted in the amino acid sequences of SEQ ID NO: 8, 20, 22, 24, 64, 70, or 74.

Glu at position 48 (preferably replaced by Arg)

Asp at position 275 (preferably replaced by Ser)

Glu at position 298 (preferably replaced by Ala)

Ala at position 343 (preferably replaced by Val)

Phe at position 396 (preferably replaced by Ile)

Ser at position 438 (preferably replaced by Gly)

Val at position 445 (preferably replaced by Ala)

Ala at position 454 (preferably replaced by Val)

Pro at position 457 (preferably replaced by Ser)

Ser at position 474 (preferably replaced by Asp)

Val at position 517 (preferably deleted)

Glu at position 518 (preferably deleted)

Ala at position 519 (preferably deleted)

Pro at position 520 (preferably deleted)

(V) Methods of Introducing the Above-Described Mutant-Type yggB Genes into Coryneform Bacterium

The mutant-type yggB gene having the above-mentioned specific mutation can be obtained by conventional methods including a site-directed mutagenesis technique. The site-directed mutagenesis technique includes an overlap extension PCR method that amplifies a mutant gene using a PCR primer having a mutation (Urban, A., Neukirchen, S. and Jaeger, K. E., A rapid and efficient method for site-directed mutagenesis using one-step overlap extension PCR. Nucleic Acids Res, 25, 2227-8. (1997)).

The coryneform bacterium of the present invention having the above-mentioned mutant-type yggB gene can be obtained by introducing the above-mentioned mutant-type yggB gene into a coryneform bacterium. A wild-type yggB gene on a chromosome may be replaced with the mutant-type yggB gene. The mutant-type yggB gene may be introduced into a coryneform bacterium in which a wild-type yggB gene is disrupted. In addition, as in the case of single cross-over recombinants, the mutant type yggB gene may co-exist with a wild-type yggB gene in a coryneform bacterium. For example, the substitution of the yggB gene on the chromosome can be performed by using, for example, a temperature-sensitive plasmid containing a sacB gene encoding the above-mentioned levan sucrase. Furthermore, to introduce the mutant type yggB gene into coryneform bacterium, a vector such as a plasmid replicable in coryneform bacterium or transposon comprising the mutant type yggB gene may be used.

To introduce the mutant type yggB gene into the chromosomal DNA of the coryneform bacteria, it is also possible to perform homologous recombination by targeting a sequence that is present on the chromosomal DNA in multiple copies. Examples of such a sequence include a repetitive DNA and an inverted repeat that is present on the end of a transposable element. The mutant type yggB gene may exist in coryneform bacterium in a single copy or multiple copies. The introduction of the mutant type yggB gene into coryneform bacterium can be confirmed by PCR, Southern hybridization, or the like.

Furthermore, the mutant type yggB gene may be under the control of a potent promoter which is derived from other genes, as described in WO00/18935. For example, lac promoter, trp promoter, trc promoter, PS2 promoter, and so on are known as potent promoters. It is also possible to introduce substitution of nucleotides into the promoter region of the mutant-type yggB gene so that expression of mutant-type yggB gene is enhanced. The substitution of the expression regulating sequence can be performed by using, for example, a temperature-sensitive plasmid.

(VI) L-Glutamic Acid Analog Resistance

Furthermore, the coryneform bacterium of the present invention may have increased resistance to L-glutamic acid analogs as a result of the introduction of the mutant-type yggB gene of the present invention. “L-glutamic acid analogs” as used herein include γ-methyl L-glutamate, α-methyl glutamic acid, β-hydroxyglutamic acid, methioninesulfoximine, glutamic acid-γ-monohydroxamate, 2-amino-4-phosphonobutyric acid, γ-monoethyl L-glutamate, dimethyl L-glutamate, di-t-butyl L-glutamate, monofluoroglutamic acid, diethyl L-glutamate, D-glutamic acid, and 4-fluoroglutamic acid. For example, an increase in resistance to L-glutamic acid analogs is confirmed by the fact that when the strain of the present invention is cultured in a minimum medium containing 4-fluoroglutamic acid at a concentration which the viable cell count (number of cells capable of forming colonies) of the parent strain can be suppressed to not more than 1/100, the strain exhibits 1/10 or more growth as compared to when cultured in the absence of 4-fluoroglutamic acid. Specifically, it is preferable that the strain has a resistance to 1.25 mM or more, preferably 2.5 mM or more, and more preferably 5 mM or more of 4-fluoroglutamic acid.

(VII) Further Modification to Inactivate the Gene which Suppresses the Function of Mutant-Type yggB Gene

The coryneform bacterium of the present invention may be further modified so to inactivate a gene which suppresses the function of mutant-type yggB gene. The “gene which suppresses the function of mutant-type yggB gene” means that L-glutamic acid production by a mutant-type yggB gene-introduced strain is suppressed by amplifying the gene in the strain. An example of such a gene includes the symA gene (suppressor of yggB mutation). The symA gene is shown as nucleotide numbers 2051306-2051845 of the genome sequence (Genbank Accession No. NC_(—)003450) of corynebacterium glutamicum ATCC13032 strain, and registered as NCgl 1867 (NP_(—)601149 hypothetical prot . . . [gi: 19553147]). The symA gene of corynebacterium glutamicum ATCC13869 strain is shown in nucleotides 585-1121 of SEQ ID NO: 86. The symA gene may be a DNA that is able to hybridize with a nucleotide sequence complementary to nucleotides 585 to 1121 of SEQ ID No: 86, or a probe prepared from said nucleotides under stringent conditions, as long as the DNA suppresses a function of said mutant-type yggB gene in the coryneform bacterium.

Gene inactivation can be performed by disrupting the gene, deleting the gene, or modifying it to decrease expression of the gene. Inactivation of the symA gene can be performed using a similar method as the above-described methods for decreasing enzymatic activity.

(VIII) Further Modification to Decrease α-Ketoglutarate Dehydrogenase Activity

In the present invention, a coryneform bacterium is preferably modified so that the activity of α-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase (hereinafter, referred to as “α-KGDH”) is decreased in addition to the modification using a yggB gene. The “α-KGDH activity is decreased” means that the α-KGDH activity is decreased as compared with that of the wild-type strain or non-modified strains, such as the parent strain. The α-KGDH activity can be measured according to the method of Shiio et al. (Isamu Shiio and Kyoko Ujigawa-Takeda, Agric. Biol. Chem., 44(8), 1897-1904, 1980). Although it is sufficient that the α-KGDH activity is decreased as compared to a non-modified strains such as a wild-type strain or a parent strain, it is preferable that the α-KGDH activity is decreased to about ½ time or less, preferably about ¼ time or less, and more preferably about 1/10 time or less with respect to a wild-type or non-modified strain. The coryneform bacterium of the present invention may not have a detectable activity of α-KGDH.

The coryneform bacterium in which the α-KGDH activity is decreased can be constructed in a similar way as described above.

For example, α-KGDH activity may be decreased by introducing a gene encoding the E1o subunit of the α-KGDH complex having a mutation in the thiamine pyrophosphate-binding region (the region encoded by nucleotides 2498 to 2584 of SEQ ID NO: 43 (686Gly-714Asp of SEQ ID NO: 44)).

Examples of the strain having a decreased activity of α-KGDH include Brevibacterium lactofermentum ΔS strain (WO95/34672) and Brevibacterium lactofermentum AJ12821 (FERM BP-4172) strain (JP-A-06-237779). When using a coryneform bacterium carrying the mutant-type yggB gene and having decreased α-KGDH activity, either decreasing α-KGDH activity or introducing the mutant type yggB gene may be performed first.

<2> Method of Producing L-Glutamic Acid

L-glutamic acid can be produced by culturing the coryneform bacterium of the present invention in a medium to cause accumulation of L-glutamic acid in the medium and/or in the bacterial cells, and collecting the L-glutamic acid from the medium and/or the bacterial cells. In the production method of the present invention, L-glutamic acid is produced preferably by culturing the coryneform bacterium of the present invention, for example, at 25 to 40° C. for 8 to 120 hours.

The culture medium may be an ordinary medium that contains a carbon source, a nitrogen source, an inorganic salt, and optionally organic micronutrients such as amino acids and vitamins. Either a synthetic medium or a natural medium may be used. Any kind of carbon and nitrogen source may be used so long as they can be utilized by the strain being cultured.

Saccharides such as glucose, glycerol, fructose, sucrose, maltose, mannose, galactose, starch hydrolysate, and molasses may be used as the carbon source. In addition, organic acids such as acetic acid and citric acid, and alcohols such as ethanol may also be used alone or in combination as a carbon source. Ammonia, ammonium salts such as ammonium sulfate, ammonium carbonate, ammonium chloride, ammonium phosphate, and ammonium acetate, nitrates, and the like may be used as the nitrogen source. Amino acids, vitamins, fatty acids, nucleic acids, substances containing peptone, casamino acid, yeast extract, and soybean protein decomposition products may be used in a slight amount as the organic nutrients. When an auxotrophic mutant strain that requires an amino acid etc. for growth is used, such a required nutrient is preferably added. Phosphates, magnesium salts, calcium salts, iron salts, manganese salts, and the like can be used as inorganic salts.

Surfactants such as Tween40, penicillin, or biotin may be added in an appropriate amount depending on a strain to be cultured. For example, a strain having a mutant-type yggB gene may be cultured in the presence of excess biotin, although such a strain may also be cultured under L-glutamic conditions containing surfactants or penicillin, or when biotin is limited.

Preferably, aerobic culturing is performed by controlling the fermentation temperature and adjusting the pH of the culture medium to 3 to 9. When the pH decreases during the culture, the medium is neutralized by adding alkali such as calcium carbonate or ammonia gas. Culture for about 10 to about 120 hours results in accumulation of a considerable amount of L-glutamic acid in the medium.

Furthermore, the culture may be performed by using a liquid medium adjusted to conditions under which the produced L-glutamic acid crystallizes and precipitates. The conditions under which L-glutamic acid crystallizes include pH 5.0 to 4.0, preferably pH 4.5 to 4.0, more preferably pH 4.3 to 4.0, particularly preferably pH 4.0 (EP1233069, EP1233070).

Collection of L-glutamic acid from the medium after completion of the culture may be performed by conventional methods. L-glutamic acid may be collected, for example, by removing bacterial cells from the medium and concentrating L-glutamic acid or by using ion exchange chromatography. When the culture is performed under conditions under which L-glutamic acid crystallizes and precipitates, the crystallized L-glutamic acid can be collected, for example, by centrifugation or filtration. In this case, L-glutamic acid dissolved in the medium may also be collected after crystallization of the dissolved L-glutamic acid.

EXAMPLES

Hereinafter, the present invention is specifically explained by referring to the following non-limiting examples.

Example 1

<Construction of a Vector for Gene Disruption Carrying the sacB Gene>

(1-1) Construction of pBS3

Construction of the gene disruption vector carrying the sacB gene was performed by using the method in WO2005/113745 and WO2005/113744. A sacB gene (SEQ ID NO: 11) was obtained by PCR using a chromosomal DNA of Bacillus subtilis as a template and oligonucleotides of SEQ ID NOS: 13 and 14 as primers. The PCR was performed using LA taq (manufactured by TaKaRa) as follows: one cycle of heat retention at 94° C. for 5 minutes; and 25 cycles of denaturing at 94° C. for 30 seconds, annealing at 49° C. for 30 seconds, and elongation at 72° C. for 2 minutes. The obtained PCR product was purified by a conventional method, and then digested with BglII and BamHI and blunt-ended. The fragment was inserted into pHSG299 which had been digested with AvaII and blunt-ended. The obtained DNA was used to transform competent cells of Escherichia coli JM109 (manufactured by TAKARA BIO INC.). Then, the transformed bacterial cells were spread on LB agar medium containing 25 μg/ml Kanamycin (hereinafter, abbreviated as “Km”), and incubated for one night. Thereafter, single colonies were isolated as transformants. Plasmids were extracted from the obtained transformants and the plasmid which had an insert of the object PCR product was named pBS3. FIG. 1 shows the procedure for construction of pBS3.

(1-2) Construction of pBS4S

The SmaI recognition site in the kanamycin-resistant gene on pBS3 was modified by nucleotide substitution using cross-over PCR without causing amino acid substitution so that pBS3 is not cut by SmaI endnuclease. First, PCR was performed using pBS3 as a template and synthetic DNAs of SEQ ID NOS: 15 and 16 as primers, to thereby obtain an N-terminal fragment of the kanamycin-resistant gene. On the other hand, to obtain a C-terminal fragment of the kanamycin-resistant gene, PCR was performed using pBS3 as a template and synthetic DNAs of SEQ ID NOS: 17 and 18 as primers. PCR was performed using Pyrobest DNA Polymerase (manufactured by TAKARA BIO INC.) as follows: one cycle of heat retention at 98° C. for 5 minutes; and 25 cycles of denaturing at 98° C. for 10 seconds, annealing at 57° C. for 30 seconds, and elongation at 72° C. for 1 minute, to obtain the objective PCR product. SEQ ID NOS: 16 and 17 are partially complementary to each other and do not contain the SmaI recognition site. Then, to obtain a full-length fragment of the mutant kanamycin-resistant gene without the SmaI recognition site, the above-mentioned N-terminal and C-terminal gene products were mixed together in substantially equimolar amounts. PCR was performed using the gene products as a template and synthetic DNAs of SEQ ID NOS: 15 and 18 as primers to obtain a SmaI site-modified kanamycin-resistant gene fragment. The PCR was performed using Pyrobest DNA Polymerase (manufactured by TAKARA BIO INC.) as follows: one cycle of heat retention at 98° C. for 5 minutes; and 25 cycles of denaturing at 98° C. for 10 seconds, annealing at 57° C. for 30 seconds, and elongation at 72° C. for 1.5 minutes, to thereby obtain the object PCR product.

The PCR product was purified by a conventional method, and then digested with BanII and then inserted into the above-described BanII recognition site of pBS3. The resulting plasmid was used to transform competent cells of Escherichia coli JM109 (available from Takara Bio). That is, the transformed bacterial cells were spread on LB agar medium containing 25 μg/ml of kanamycin, and incubated for one night. Thereafter, colonies that appeared were selected as transformants. Plasmids were isolated from the obtained transformants and the plasmid having an insert of the object PCR product was named pBS4S. FIG. 2 shows the procedure for constructing pBS4S.

Example 2

<Construction of an odhA Gene-disrupted strain from C. Glutamicum ATCC13869 Strain>

The nucleotide sequence of the odhA gene encoding the α-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase of coryneform bacterium has already been identified (Microbiology 142, 3347-3354, (1996), GenBank accession No. D84102). Based on the nucleotide sequence of the odhA gene, the primers described in SEQ ID NOS: 1 and 2 were designed, and PCR was performed using the primers and the chromosomal DNA of the ATCC13869 strain as a template to amplify the internal sequence of the odhA gene. The amplified PCR fragment was completely digested with BamHI and inserted to the BamHI site of pBS4S constructed in Example 1, thereby the plasmid pBS4SΔsucAint was obtained (FIG. 3).

pBS4SΔsucAint was introduced into C. glutamicum ATCC13869 strain by the electric pulse method (JP-A-02-207791) and the tranformed bacterial cells were spread over CM-Dex agar medium (5 g/l glucose, 10 g/l polypeptone, 10 g/l yeast extract, 1 g/l KH₂PO₄, 0.4 g/l MgSO₄.7H₂O, 0.01 g/l FeSO₄.7H₂O, 0.01 g/l MnSO₄.4-5H₂O, 3 g/l urea, 1.2 g/l soybean protein hydrolysate, and 20 g/l agar, adjusted to pH 7.5 with NaOH: autoclaved at 120° C. for 20 minutes) containing 25 μg/ml kanamycin. After culturing at 31.5° C., PCR was performed using each of the chromosomes extracted from strains which appeared to confirm that these strains were single cross-over recombinants in which pBS4SΔsucAint was incorporated by homologous recombination into the chromosome. Primers each having a sequence (SEQ ID NO: 3) specific to pBS4S plasmid and a sequence (SEQ ID NO: 4) complementary to a chromosomal sequence was used for PCR. Since the sequence of pBS4S is absent in a non-recombinant strain, no fragment is amplified from the non-recombinant strain, whereas a single fragment is amplified from a single cross-over recombinant.

The single cross-over recombinant thus obtained was named 2A-1 strain. The wild-type 13869 strain and 2A-1 strain were inoculated in 20 ml of a flask medium (30 g/l glucose, 15 g/l ammonium sulfate, 1 g/l KH₂PO₄, 0.4 g/l MgSO₄.7H₂O, 0.01 g/l FeSO₄.7H₂O, 0.01 g/l MnSO₄.4-5H₂O, 200 μg/l VB1 (vitamin B1), 300 μg/l Biotin, and 0.48 g/l soybean hydrolysates (T-N: total nitrogen), adjusted to pH 8.0 with KOH: autoclaved at 115° C. for 10 minutes), followed by addition of 1 g of heat-sterilized calcium carbonate, and each of the strains was cultured with shaking at 31.5° C. After the sugar was completely consumed, the concentration of L-glutamic acid which had accumulated in the medium was determined. The results are shown in Table 1 (OD620 is turbidity at 620 nm of culture solution diluted to 101 times, and indicates the cell amount, and Glu (g/L) indicates the amount of accumulated L-glutamic acid). It was found that the 2A-1 strain produced L-glutamic acid in the presence of an excess amount of biotin, whereas the parent strain ATTCC 13869 did not produce L-glutamic acid at all.

TABLE 1 Amount of L-glutamic acid produced by the control and the 2A-1 strain OD620(x101) Glu(g/L) ATCC13869 0.658 0.2 2A-1 0.315 17.7 Blank 0.002 0.4

Example 3

<Construction of an odhA Gene-Revertant Strain from the 2A-1 Strain>

In the 2A-1 strain, the odhA gene on the chromosome was disrupted by pBS4SΔsucAint. By curing the plasmid from the chromosome of this strain, the odhA gene could be reverted to the wild-type one. Although the odhA gene-disrupted strain grows very slowly in a medium containing no sugar, the odhA gene-revertant strain in which the odhA gene-revered to the wild-type one grows well in a medium containing no sugar such as CM2B (10 g/l polypeptone, 10 g/l yeast extract, 5 g/l NaCl, 10 μg/l Biotin, 20 g/l agar, adjusted to pH 7.0 with KOH). To obtain such a revertant strain, the 2A-1 strain was spread over CM2B agar medium to select growth-improved strains. The growth-improved strain which appeared was named 2A-1R and isolated on the CM2B agar medium and the kanamycin-sensitivity of the 2A-1R strain was examined. As a result, it was found that all of the selected strains were kanamycin-sensitive and sucrose-resistant. Since the pBS4SΔsucAint contains a kanamycin-resistant gene and the sacB gene encoding levan sucrase, strains harboring pBS4SΔsucAint exhibit kanamycin-resistance and sucrose-sensitivity, while strains from which pBS4SΔsucAint was removed exhibit kanamycin-sensitivity and sucrose-resistance. Therefore, it was considered that the odhA gene reverted to the wild-type one in the 2A-1R strain. Determination of the nucleotide sequence of the odhA gene confirmed that the strain has the wild-type odhA gene.

The ability of 2A-1R strain to produce L-glutamic acid in the presence of an excess amount of biotin was confirmed by the same method as in Example 2. The results are shown in Table 2 (OD620 is turbidity at 620 nm of culture solution diluted to 101 times, and indicates the cell amount, and Glu (g/L) indicates the amount of accumulated L-glutamic acid). Although the accumulation of L-glutamic acid by the 2A-1R strain was slightly decreased as compared to the 2A-1 strain, the 2A-1R strain produced a much higher amount of L-glutamic acid in the presence of an excess amount of biotin than the wild-type ATCC13869 strain (Table 2). In addition, when the shaking culture was continued after the sugar was completely consumed, decomposition of L-glutamic acid was observed in the 2A-1R strain, which proved that the odhA gene had reverted to the wild-type in this strain (FIG. 4).

TABLE 2 L-glutamic acid production by the control strain, odhA gene-disrupted strain and odhA gene-revertant strain OD620(x101) Glu(g/L) ATCC13869 0.696 0.5 2A-1 0.332 17.1 2A-1R 0.327 14.3 Blank 0.002 0.6

Example 4

<Isolation of a Gene that is Involved in L-Glutamic Acid Production by the 2A-1R Strain>

On the CM2B agar medium, the 2A-1R strain could form colonies at substantially the same rate as that of the wild-type strain ATCC13869. However, on the minimum plate medium (20 g/l glucose, 2.64 g/l ammonium sulfate, 0.5 g/l KH₂PO₄, 0.5 g/l K₂HPO₄, 0.25 g/l MgSO₄.7H₂O, 0.01 g/l FeSO₄.7H₂O, 0.01 g/l MnSO₄.7H₂O, 0.01 g/l CaCl₂, 0.02 mg/l CuSO₄, 40 g/l MOPS, 30 mg/l protocatechuic acid, 200 μg/l VB₁.Hu, 300 μg/l Biotin, 20 g/l agar, adjusted to pH 6.7 with NaOH), the 2A-1R strain showed a considerably decreased colony-forming rate as compared to the wild-type ATCC13869 strain. Accordingly, a gene that can recover the growth of the 2A-1R strain in the minimum medium was found.

The chromosomal DNA of the ATCC13869 strain was partially digested with Sau3AI and ligated to the shuttle vector pVK9 that had been digested with BamHI. The obtained plasmid was precipitated with ethanol and used to transform competent cell of E. coli DH5α (TAKARA BIO INC.) by an electric pulse method. pVK9 is a shuttle vector obtained by blunt-ending the AvaII site of pHSG299 (TAKARA BIO INC.) and inserting therein a fragment comprising a sequence automatically replicable in coryneform bacteria excised with BamHI and KpnI from pHK4 (JP-A-05-007491). The transformed cells were spread over an LB agar medium (10 g/l polypeptone, 5 g/l yeast extract, 5 g/l NaCl, 20 g/l agar, adjusted to pH 7.0 with NaOH) containing 25 μg/ml kanamycin, and cultured at 37° C. for one night. On the next day, all of the colonies which appeared were collected from the plate with a platinum loop and plasmids were extracted to construct a plasmid library of the ATCC13869 strain. The plasmid library was transformed to the 2A-1R strain obtained in Example 3 by the electric pulse method, and the transformed cells were applied to a minimum agar medium containing 25 μg/ml kanamycin. The strains that showed an increased colony-forming rate were selected. By extracting a plasmid from the selected strains showing the increased colony-forming rate, it was found that the fragment having a nucleotide sequence shown in SEQ ID NO: 5 was inserted into the BamHI site of pVK9. The obtained plasmid was named pL5k.

Comparison of the nucleotide sequence inserted in the pL5k with the already published genome sequence of Corynebacterium glutamicum ATCC13032 (Acc. No. NC_(—)003450) showed that pL5k contained only one ORF encoding the amino acid sequence shown in SEQ ID NO: 6.

The program “SOSUI” available on the Internet (sosui.proteome.bio.tuat.ac.jp/sosuiframe0E.html as of 2004/10/07) was used to predict whether the ORF encodes a membrane protein. Results of analysis of the ORF by using “SOSUI” suggested that five transmembrane regions are present in this amino acid sequence. In the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 6, the transmembrane regions correspond to the regions of amino acids 1 to 23, amino acids 25 to 47, amino acids 62 to 84, amino acids 86 to 108, and amino acids 110 to 132. DNA sequences encoding these regions correspond to the nucleotides 1437 to 1505, nucleotides 1509 to 1577, nucleotides 1620 to 1688, nucleotides 1692 to 1760, and nucleotides 1764 to 1832 of SEQ ID NO: 5. Each of the amino acid sequences of these regions is shown in SEQ ID NOS: 25 to 29 and Table 3.

TABLE 3 Predicted transmembrane regions of the protein encoded by the inserted gene N-terminal C-terminal SEQ No. position transmembrane region position type length ID 1 1 MILGVPIQYLLYSLWNWIVDTGF 23 SECONDARY 23 25 2 25 VAIILVLAFLIPRIGRLAMRIIK 47 PRIMARY 23 26 3 62 QLAFAGVGVYIAQIVAFFMLAVS 84 PRIMARY 23 27 4 86 MQAFGFSLAGAAIPATIASAAIG 108 SECONDARY 23 28 5 110 GAQSIVADFLAGFFILTEKQFGV 132 SECONDARY 23 29

A further search of the literature revealed that the ORF is named YggB (NCgl 1221) (FEMS Microbiology letters 218(2003)305-309).

Example 5

<Identification of the Mutation Introduced into the yggB Gene of the 2A-1R Strain>

The yggB gene could recover the growth of the 2A-1R strain in the minimum medium, which suggested the possibility that the yggB gene of the 2A-1R strain has some mutations. Accordingly, the nucleotide sequence of the yggB gene of the 2A-1R strain was determined. The results indicated that in the 2A-1R strain, an IS was inserted into the C-terminal region of the wild-type yggB gene (FIG. 5). The nucleotide sequence of the mutant type yggB gene derived from the 2A-1R strain is shown in SEQ ID NO: 7 and the corresponding amino acid sequence is shown in SEQ ID NO: 8.

This suggested the possibility that the ability of the 2A-1R strain to produce L-glutamic acid in the presence of an excess amount of biotin was due to the mutation in the yggB gene. It should be noted that this mutation was present not only in the 2A-1R strain, but also in the 2A-1 strain. This mutation is presumed to have occurred as a suppressor mutation to stably excrete L-glutamic acid from the cell when the odhA gene was disrupted. The mutation in which an IS was inserted was named the 2A-1 type mutation.

Example 6

<Construction of a Strain Having the 2A-1 Type Mutant yggB Gene and Evaluation of L-Glutamic Acid-Producing Ability>

(6-1) Introduction of the 2A-1 Type Mutation into a Wild-Type Strain and Evaluation of L-Glutamic Acid-Producing Ability (Single Cross-Over Recombinants)

PCR was performed using the chromosomal DNA of the 2A-1 strain as a template and synthetic DNAs shown in SEQ ID NOS: 9 and 10 as primers to amplify the fragment of yggB gene having the 2A-1 type mutation. The amplified product was treated with SacI and inserted into the SacI site of pBS3 obtained in Example 1 to thereby obtain a plasmid containing the 2A-1 type mutant yggB gene (pBS3yggB2A).

The obtained pBS3yggB2A was introduced into C. glutamicum ATCC13869 by the electric pulse method and the transformed cells were spread over CM-Dex agar medium containing 25 μg/ml kanamycin. The strains that appeared after culturing at 31.5° C. were evaluated by PCR to confirm that they are single cross-over recombinants in which pBS3yggB2A was incorporated into the chromosome by homologous recombination. The obtained single cross-over recombinant was named 13869-2A. In this strain, both the wild-type yggB gene and mutant-type yggB gene exist and are expressed.

The ability of the obtained mutant-type yggB gene-introduced strain 13869-2A to produce L-glutamic acid in the presence of an excess amount of biotin was evaluated by the method described in Example 2. The results are shown in Table 4 (OD620 is turbidity at 620 nm of culture solution diluted 101 times, and indicates the cell amount, and Glu (g/L) indicates the amount of accumulated L-glutamic acid). The 13869-2A strain produced L-glutamic acid in the presence of an excess amount of biotin when the wild-type ATCC13869 strain cannot produce L-glutamic acid. This indicated that the mutation in the yggB gene could enhance L-glutamic acid production in the presence of an excess amount of biotin. In the case of the 13869-2A strain, both the wild-type yggB gene and mutant type yggB gene were expressed, so that it was revealed that the introduction of the mutant-type yggB gene could impart to a coryneform bacterium an ability to produce L-glutamic acid in high yields even in the presence of the wild type yggB gene on the chromosome.

TABLE 4 Amount of L-glutamic acid accumulated by the control strain, 2A-1R strain, and the mutant type yggB gene-introduced strain OD620(x101) Glu(g/L) ATCC13869 0.625 0.3 2A-1R 0.334 15.5 13869-2A 0.582 3.6 Blank 0.002 0.6

(6-2) Introduction of the 2A-1 Type Mutant yggB Gene into the Wild-Type Strain and Evaluation of L-Glutamic Acid-Producing Ability (Double Cross-Over Recombinants)

To construct a strain having only the mutant-type yggB gene, the 13869-2A strain was cultured in the CM-Dex liquid medium for one night and the obtained culture was spread over the S10 agar medium (100 g/l sucrose, 10 g/l polypeptone, 10 g/l yeast extract, 1 g/l KH₂PO₄, 0.4 g/l MgSO₄.7H₂O, 0.01 g/l FeSO₄.7H₂O, 0.01 g/l MnSO₄.4-5H₂O, 3 g/l urea, 1.2 g/l soybean protein hydrolysates, 20 g/l agar, adjusted to pH 7.5 with NaOH: autoclaved at 120° C. for 20 minutes) and cultured at 31.5° C. Among the colonies which appeared, the strain exhibiting sensitivity to kanamycin was isolated on CM2B agar medium. Chromosomal DNAs were prepared from the strains. Then, PCR was performed using synthetic DNAs shown in SEQ ID NOS: 9 and 10 as primers to confirm that the strain has only a mutant-type yggB gene. The strain containing the mutant-type yggB gene in which an IS-like sequence was inserted was named 13869-2A-7.

The ability of the obtained 13869-2A-7 strain to produce L-glutamic acid in the presence of an excess amount of biotin was evaluated by the method described in Example 2. The results are shown in Table 5 (OD620 is turbidity at 620 nm of culture solution diluted to 101 times, and indicates the cell amount, and Glu (g/L) indicates the amount of accumulated L-glutamic acid). The 13869-2A-7 strain produced L-glutamic acid equivalent to or higher than the 2A-1R strain, which confirmed that L-glutamic acid production of the coryneform bacterium in the presence of an excess amount of biotin was caused by the mutation in the yggB gene.

TABLE 5 Amount of L-glutamic acid produced by the control strain, 2A-1R strain and the mutant-type yggB gene-introduced strain OD620(x101) Glu(g/L) ATCC13869 0.648 0.4 2A-1R 0.420 13.8 13869-2A-7 0.414 16.1 Blank 0.002 0.7

Example 7

<Construction of the A1-Type Mutant yggB Gene-Introduced Strain and Evaluation of L-Glutamic Acid-Producing Ability>

As a result of the screening using the above-mentioned L-glutamic acid-producing odhA gene-disrupted strain (ΔsucA strain), five kinds of mutations were identified on the yggB gene besides the above-mentioned 2A-1 mutation. Hereinafter, these mutations were named A1-type mutation, 19-type mutation, L30-type mutation, 8-type mutation, and 66-type mutation. The mutant-type yggB genes having each of the A1-type mutation, 19-type mutation, and L30-type mutation were introduced into the chromosome of the ATCC13869 strain, and the effect of each mutation was evaluated. The mutant-type yggB gene having the 8-type mutation was introduced into the chromosome of the ATCC14067 strain, and the effect of the mutation was evaluated. The mutant-type yggB gene having the 66-type mutation was introduced into the chromosome of the C. melassecola ATCC17965 strain, and the effect of the mutation was evaluated.

The A1 type mutation is a mutation which inserts “TTCATTGTG” next to the “G” at position 1480 of the wild-type yggB gene (the wild-type gene of C. glutamicum is shown in nucleotides 1437-3035 of SEQ ID NO: 5), and causes insertion of CysSerLeu between the Leu at position 14 and the Trp at position 15 in the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 6. The nucleotide sequence of the mutant type yggB gene in which this mutation was introduced is shown in SEQ ID NO: 19 and the amino acid sequence of the mutant type YggB encoded by this gene is shown in SEQ ID NO: 20.

The A1 type mutant gene can be obtained as follows. PCR is performed by using the synthetic DNAs shown in SEQ ID NOS: 30 and 31 as primers and the chromosomal DNA of ATCC13869 strain as a template to prepare an N-terminal fragment. Similarly, PCR is performed by using the synthetic DNAs shown in SEQ ID NOS: 32 and 33 as primers to prepare a C-terminal fragment. Subsequently, PCR is performed by using an equimolar mixture of the N-terminal fragment and the C-terminal fragment as a template and the synthetic DNAs shown in SEQ ID NOS: 9 and 34 as primers to amplify a partial fragment of the A1 type mutant yggB gene. The obtained mutant-type yggB gene fragment is treated with SacI and inserted into the SacI site of pBS4S to obtain a plasmid for introducing this type of mutation. The pBS4yggBA1 thus obtained is introduced into the chromosome of the ATCC13869 strain in the same manner as described in Example 6 and then only the plasmid portion was cured from the chromosome. The nucleotide sequence of the yggB gene of the obtained kanamycin-sensitive strain is determined and the strain having the A1 type mutant yggB gene is selected. The A1 type mutant yggB gene-introduced strain was named ATCC13869-A1 strain.

The ATCC13869-A1 strain and the control ATCC13869 strain were cultured in the same manner as in Example 2. After completion of the culture, the amount of L-glutamic acid which had accumulated in the culture medium was measured by the known method. It was found that the A1-type mutant yggB gene-introduced strain produced L-glutamic acid in the presence of an excess amount of biotin in a greater amount as compared to the control strain.

TABLE 6 Amount of L-glutamic acid produced by the control strain, and the mutant-type (A1-type) yggB gene-introduced strain strains OD620(x101) Glu(g/L) ATCC13869 0.650 0.5 ATCC13869-A1 0.548 8.6

Example 8

<Construction of the 19 Type Mutant yggB Gene-Introduced Strain and Evaluation of L-Glutamic Acid-Producing Ability>

The 19 type mutation is a mutation which replaces the “G” at position 1734 of the wild type yggB gene (the wild type gene of C. glutamicum is shown in nucleotides 1437-3035 of SEQ ID NO: 5) with an “A”, and causes replacement of the Ala at position 100 with Thr in the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 6. The nucleotide sequence of the mutant type yggB gene having this type of mutation is shown in SEQ ID NO: 21 and the amino acid sequence of the mutant type YggB protein encoded by this gene is shown in SEQ ID NO: 22.

In the same manner as in Example 7, the 19 type mutant yggB gene-introduced strain is constructed. Specifically, PCR is performed by using the synthetic DNAs shown in SEQ ID NOS: 30 and 35 as primers and the chromosomal DNA of the ATCC13869 strain as a template to prepare an N-terminal fragment. Similarly, PCR is performed by using the synthetic DNAs shown in SEQ ID NOS: 33 and 36 as primers to prepare a C-terminal fragment. Subsequently, PCR is performed by using an equimolar mixture of the N-terminal fragment and the C-terminal fragment as a template and the synthetic DNAs shown in SEQ ID NOS: 9 and 34 as primers, to amplify a partial fragment of the 19 type mutant yggB gene. The obtained yggB fragment is treated with SacI and inserted into the SacI site of pBS4S to obtain a plasmid for introducing this mutation. The thus obtained pBS4yggB19 is introduced into the chromosome of the ATCC13869 strain in the same manner as described in Example 6 and then the vector portion is cured from the chromosome. The nucleotide sequence of the yggB gene of the obtained kanamycin-sensitive strain is determined and the strain having the 19 type yggB gene is selected. The 19-type mutant strain was named ATCC13869-19 strain.

The ATCC13869-19 strain and the control ATCC13869 strain were cultured in the same manner as in Example 2. After completion of the culture, the amount of L-glutamic acid which had accumulated in the culture broth was measured by a conventional method. It was found that the 19-type mutant yggB gene-introduced strain produced L-glutamic acid in the presence of an excess amount of biotin in a greater amount as compared to the control strain.

TABLE 7 Amount of L-glutamic acid produced by the control strain, and the mutant-type (19-type) yggB gene-introduced strain strains OD620(x101) Glu(g/L) ATCC13869 0.650 0.5 ATCC13869-19 0.614 0.7

Example 9

<Construction of the L30 Type Mutant yggB-Gene Introduced Strain and Evaluation of L-Glutamic Acid-Producing Ability>

The L30 type mutation is a mutation which replaces the “C” at position 1768 of the wild type yggB gene (the wild type gene of C. glutamicum is shown in SEQ ID NO: 5) with “T”, and causes replacement of the Ala at position 111 with Val in the amino acid sequence shown in SEQ ID NO: 6. The nucleotide sequence of the mutant type yggB gene having this type of mutation is shown in SEQ ID NO: 23 and the amino acid sequence of the mutant type YggB protein encoded by this gene is shown in SEQ ID NO: 24.

In the same manner as in Example 7, the L30 type mutant yggB gene-introduced strain was constructed. Specifically, PCR was performed by using the synthetic DNAs shown in SEQ ID NOS: 30 and 37 as primers and the chromosomal DNA of ATCC13869 strain as a template to prepare an N-terminal fragment. Similarly, PCR was performed by using the synthetic DNAs shown in SEQ ID NOS: 34 and 38 as primers to prepare a C-terminal fragment. Subsequently, PCR was performed by using an equimolar mixture of the N-terminal fragment and the C-terminal fragment as a template and the synthetic DNAs shown in SEQ ID NOS: 9 and 34 as primers to amplify a partial fragment of the L30 type mutant yggB gene. The obtained yggB fragment was treated with SacI and inserted into the SacI site of pBS4S to obtain a plasmid for introducing this type of mutation. The thus obtained pBS4yggB-L was introduced into the chromosome of ATCC13869 strain in the same manner as described in Example 6, and then the vector portion was cured from the chromosome. The nucleotide sequence of the yggB gene of the obtained kanamycin-sensitive strain was determined and the strain having L30 type mutant yggB gene was selected. The L30-type mutant yggB gene-introduced strain was named ATCC13869-L30 strain.

The ATCC13869-L30 strain and the control ATCC13869 strain were cultured in the same manner as in Example 2. After completion of the culture, the amount of L-glutamic acid which had accumulated in the culture broth was measured by a conventional method. The results are shown in Table 8 (OD620 is turbidity at 620 nm of culture solution diluted to 101 times, and indicates the cell amount, and Glu (g/L) indicates the amount of accumulated L-glutamic acid). ATCC13869-L30 strain having the L30 type mutant yggB gene caused accumulation of L-glutamic acid in a greater amount as compared to the parent ATCC13869 strain.

TABLE 8 Amount of L-glutamic acid produced by the control strain and the L30-type mutant yggB gene-introduced strain OD620(x101) Glu(g/L) ATCC13869 0.650 0.5 ATCC13869-L30 0.389 15.9

Example 10

Evaluation of the Mutant-Type yggB Gene-Introduced Strains Under L-Glutamic Acid-Producing Conditions

L-glutamic acid production of Coryneform bacterium is induced by addition of surfactants such as Tween40 or by limiting the biotin concentration. Therefore, the ATCC13869 strain and the ATCC13869-19 strain were cultured under a condition containing Tween40 and a condition containing a limited amount of biotin, respectively.

Each of the strains was inoculated into 20 ml of seed culture medium (80 g/l glucose, 30 g/l ammonium sulfate, 1 g/l KH₂PO₄, 0.4 g/l MgSO₄.7H₂O, 0.01 g/l FeSO₄.7H₂O, 0.01 g/l MnSO₄.4-5H₂O, 200 μg/l VB1, 60 μg/l biotin, 0.48 g/l soybean hydrolysate (T-N), adjusted to pH 8.0 with KOH: autoclaved at 115° C. for 10 minutes), and then 1 g of sterilized calcium carbonate was added thereto, followed by a shaking culture at 31.5° C. The culture solution obtained after complete consumption of sugars was used as a seed culture solution in the following main culture.

For culturing with Tween40, 2 ml of the seed culture solution was inoculated into 20 ml of main culture medium (80 g/l glucose, 30 g/l ammonium sulfate, 1 g/l KH₂PO₄, 0.4 g/l MgSO₄.7H₂O, 0.01 g/l FeSO₄.7H₂O, 0.01 g/l MnSO₄.4-5H₂O, 200 μg/l VB1, 60 μg/l biotin, 0.48 g/l soybean hydrolysate (T-N), adjusted to pH 8.0 with KOH: autoclaved at 115° C. for 10 minutes), and then 1 g of sterilized calcium carbonate was added thereto, followed by a shaking culture at 31.5° C. When OD620 of culture broth diluted 101-fold reached 0.2, Tween40 was added to a final concentration of 5 g/L and the culture was continued.

For culturing with limited biotin, 1 ml of the seed culture solution was inoculated into 20 ml of main culture medium (80 g/l glucose, 30 g/l ammonium sulfate, 1 g/l KH₂PO₄, 0.4 g/l MgSO₄.7H₂O, 0.01 g/l FeSO₄.7H₂O, 0.01 g/l MnSO₄.4-5H₂O, 200 μg/l VB1, 0.48 g/l soybean hydrolysate (T-N), adjusted to pH 8.0 with KOH: autoclaved at 115° C. for 10 minutes), and then 1 g of sterilized calcium carbonate was added thereto, followed by a shaking culture at 31.5° C. Under these culture conditions, a final concentration of biotin is calculated to be about 2.9 μg/L.

After a 40 hour-culture, the amount of L-glutamic acid which had accumulated in the medium was measured for the Tween40-added culture and the biotin-limited culture. The result is shown in Table 9. It was found that the ATCC13869-19 strain produced L-glutamic acid in an amount greater than the control strain under L-glutamic acid-producing conditions.

TABLE 9 Amount of L-glutamic acid produced by the control strain and the 19-type mutant yggB gene-introduced strain under L-glutamic acid-producing conditions Strains OD620 (X101) Glu (g/L) Tween40-added ATCC13869 0.538 25.6 ATCC13869-19 0.395 28.6 biotin-limited ATCC13869 0.462 36.0 ATCC13869-19 0.431 40.0

The wild-type ATCC13869 strain, yggB mutant trains ATCC13869-19, ATCC13869-A1, ATCC13869-L30, and a strain having a plasmid containing a wild-type yggB gene (ATCC13869/pL5k-1), and a strain having a control plasmid (ATCC13869/pVK9) were cultured with Tween40. Each of these strains were cultured on a CM-Dex plate medium overnight, and cells collected from ⅙ area of the plate were inoculated in 20 ml of a flask medium (80 g/l glucose, 30 g/l ammonium sulfate, 1 g/l KH₂PO₄, 0.4 g/l MgSO₄.7H₂O, 0.01 g/l FeSO₄.7H₂O, 0.01 g/l MnSO₄.4-5H₂O, 200 μg/l VB1, 60 μg/l biotin, and 0.48 g/l soybean hydrolysates (T-N: total nitrogen), adjusted to pH 8.0 with KOH: autoclaved at 115° C. for 10 minutes), followed by addition of 1 g of heat-sterilized calcium carbonate, and each of the strains was cultured with shaking at 31.5° C. After a 5-hour culture, Tween40 was added to a final concentration of 1 g/L and the culture was continued. Table 10 shows the amount of cells (OD620) and the amount of L-glutamic acid which had accumulated in the medium after 24 hours. It was found that the ATCC13869-19 strain, ATCC13869-A1 strain, ATCC13869-L30 strain, and the strain having a plasmid containing a wild-type yggB gene have an enhanced ability to produce L-glutamic acid under L-glutamic acid-producing conditions.

TABLE 10 OD620 (x101) Glu(g/L) ATCC13869 0.887 12.8 ATCC13869/pVK9 0.748 12.4 ATCC13869/pL5k-1 0.711 19.2 ATCC13869-19 0.786 21.0 ATCC13869-A1 0.629 34.9 ATCC13869-L30 0.649 28.3 Blank 0.001 0.5

Example 11

<Construction of the 8-Type Mutant yggB-Gene Introduced Strain and Evaluation of L-Glutamic Acid-Producing Ability>

The 8-type mutation is a mutation which replaces the “G” at position 837 of SEQ ID NO: 61 with an “A”, and causes replacement of the Ala at position 111 with Thr in the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 62. The nucleotide sequence of the mutant-type yggB gene having this type of mutation is shown in nucleotides 507-2093 of SEQ ID NO: 63 and the amino acid sequence of the mutant-type YggB protein encoded by this gene is shown in SEQ ID NO: 64.

In the same manner as in Example 7, the 8-type mutant yggB gene-introduced strain is constructed. Specifically, PCR is performed by using the synthetic DNAs shown in SEQ ID NOS: 30 and 65 as primers and the chromosomal DNA of Brevibacterium flavum ATCC14067 strain as a template to prepare an N-terminal fragment. Similarly, PCR is performed by using the synthetic DNAs shown in SEQ ID NOS: 34 and 66 as primers to prepare a C-terminal fragment. Subsequently, PCR is performed by using an equimolar mixture of the N-terminal fragment and the C-terminal fragment as a template and the synthetic DNAs shown in SEQ ID NOS: 9 and 34 as primers to amplify a partial fragment of the 8-type mutant yggB gene. The obtained yggB gene fragment is treated with SacI and inserted into the SacI site of pBS4S to obtain a plasmid for introducing this type of mutation. The thus obtained pBS4yggB8 is introduced into the chromosome of ATCC14067 strain in the same manner as described in Example 6 and then the vector portion is cured from the chromosome. The nucleotide sequence of the yggB gene of the obtained kanamycin-sensitive strain is determined and the strain having the 8-type mutant yggB gene was selected. The 8-type mutant yggB gene-introduced strain is named ATCC14067-yggB8 strain.

Example 12

<Construction of the 66-Type Mutant yggB-Gene Introduced Strain and Evaluation of L-Glutamic Acid-Producing Ability>

The 66-type mutation is a mutation which replaces the “C” at position 1673 of SEQ ID NO: 67 with a “T”, and causes replacement of the Pro at position 424 with Leu in the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 68. The nucleotide sequence of the mutant type-yggB gene having this type of mutation is shown in SEQ ID NO: 69 and the amino acid sequence of the mutant type YggB protein encoded by this gene is shown in SEQ ID NO: 70.

In the same manner as in Example 7, the 66-type mutant yggB gene-introduced strain is constructed. Specifically, PCR is performed by using the synthetic DNAs shown in SEQ ID NOS: 30 and 71 as primers and the chromosomal DNA of C. melassecola ATCC17965 strain as a template to prepare an N-terminal fragment. Similarly, PCR is performed by using the synthetic DNAs shown in SEQ ID NOS: 34 and 72 as primers to prepare a C-terminal fragment. Subsequently, PCR is performed by using an equimolar mixture of the N-terminal fragment and the C-terminal fragment as a template and the synthetic DNAs shown in SEQ ID NOS: 9 and 34 as primers to amplify a partial fragment of the 66-type mutant yggB gene. The obtained yggB fragment is treated with SacI and inserted into the SacI site of pBS4S to obtain a plasmid for introducing this type of mutation. The thus obtained pBS4yggB66 is introduced into the chromosome of ATCC17965 strain in the same manner as described in Example 6 and then the vector portion is cured from the chromosome. The nucleotide sequence of the yggB gene of the obtained kanamycin-sensitive strain is determined and the strain having the 66-type mutant yggB gene was selected. The 66-type mutant yggB gene-introduced strain is named ATCC 17965-yggB66 strain.

Example 13

<Screening of the Mutant-Type yggB Genes by In Vitro Mutation>

Mutant-type yggB genes may be obtained by introducing a random mutation into the wild-type yggB gene in vitro, transforming a coryneform bacterium with the mutation-introduced yggB gene, and selecting mutant strains capable of producing L-glutamic acid without addition of surfactants or penicillin in the presence of an excess amount of biotin.

(13-1) Construction of a yggB Gene-Disrupted Strain

To perform screening for mutant-type yggB genes, first a yggB gene-disrupted strain was constructed. PCR was performed by using the synthetic DNAs shown in SEQ ID NOS: 39 and 40 as primers and the chromosomal DNA of ATCC13869 strain as a template to prepare an N-terminal fragment. Similarly, PCR was performed by using the synthetic DNAs shown in SEQ ID NOS: 41 and 42 as primers to prepare a C-terminal fragment. SEQ ID NO: 40 and SEQ ID NO: 41 are complementary to each other. Subsequently, PCR was performed by using an equimolar mixture of the N-terminal fragment and the C-terminal fragment as a template and the synthetic DNAs shown in SEQ ID NOS: 39 and 42 as primers to obtain a fragment containing a yggB gene in which the ORF is deleted.

The obtained PCR fragment was treated with SacI and inserted into the SacI site of pBS4S to obtain a plasmid useful for disrupting the yggB gene. The pBS4ΔyggB thus obtained was introduced into the chromosome of ATCC13869 strain in the same manner as described in Example 6 and the vector portion is cured from the chromosome. PCR was performed by using the chromosomal DNA of the obtained kanamycin-sensitive strain as a template and the synthetic DNAs of SEQ ID NOS: 39 and 42 as primers to confirm that the yggB gene was disrupted. The obtained yggB-disrupted strain was named ATCC13869ΔyggB strain.

(13-2) In Vitro Screening of Mutant-Type yggB Genes

Mutagenesis of the yggB gene was performed as follows. First, the above-described pL5k plasmid was treated with XhoI and SalI and self-ligated to remove the region other than the yggB gene, and thereby the plasmid pL5kXS was obtained. A SalI recognition site does not exist on the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 5 but is present on the multi-cloning site of pBS3. About 10 μg of the obtained pL5kXS was dissolved in 500 mM phosphate buffer containing 400 mM hydroxylamine and 1 mM EDTA (pH 6.0), and heated at 75° C. for 30 to 90 minutes to introduce a mutation. The plasmid after mutagenesis treatment was desalted using SUPREC-02 (manufactured by TAKARA BIO INC.) and then introduced into ATCC13869ΔyggB strain by the method described in Example 6. Transformed cells were screened on the CM2B medium containing 25 μg/ml of kanamycin. As a control, pL5kXS without mutagenesis treatment was introduced into the ATCC13869ΔyggB strain. The appeared transformants are inoculated into 2 m of a liquid CM2BGU2 medium (CM2B medium described in Example 3 further containing 10 g/l glucose and 15 g/l urea) and cultured at 31.5° C. for 5 hours with shaking, followed by determination of the concentration of L-glutamic acid which had accumulated in the culture broth.

Table 11 shows the result of culturing of the strain obtained by transforming the ATCC13869ΔyggB strain with the mutated pL5kXS on the CM2BGU2 medium. Three strains which cause accumulation of more than 1 g/L of L-glutamic acid were obtained among the transformants transformed with 60, or 90-minute mutated plasmids. The amount of L-glutamic acid contained in the starting medium is 0.16 g/L, and the amount of L-glutamic acid which had accumulated by the control ATCC13869ΔyggB/pL5kXS (without mutagenesis treatment) strain was 0.31 g/L.

Table 12 shows the results of culturing transformants obtained by transforming the ATCC 13869ΔyggB strain with mutated pL5kXS on the CM2BGU medium, which has the same composition as the above-mentioned CM2BGU2 medium except that the concentration of urea is 1.5 g/L. One clone which causes accumulation of more than 1 g/L of L-glutamic acid was obtained among the transformants transformed with 90-minute mutated plasmids.

TABLE 11 Amount of L-glutamic acid production by strains transformed with mutated plasmids Number of clones Glu accumulation Time of mutagenesis (g/L) 30 min 60 min 90 min Glu ≦ 0.4 40 36 39 0.4 < Glu ≦ 0.6 8 11 6 0.6 < Glu ≦ 0.8 0 0 1 0.8 < Glu ≦ 1 0 0 0 1 < Glu 0 1 2

TABLE 12 Amount of L-glutamic acid production by strains transformed with mutated plasmids Number of clones Glu accumulation Time of mutagenesis (g/L) 60 min 90 min Glu ≦ 0.7 45 41 0.7 < Glu ≦ 0.9 2 7 0.9 < Glu 1 0

A plasmid was extracted from the strain transformed with 60-minute mutated plasmids which produced more than 1 g/L of L-glutamic acid shown in Table 11, and the obtained plasmid was named pL5kXSm-22. A plasmid was also extracted from the strain transformed with 60-minute mutated plasmids which produced more than 0.9 g/L of L-glutamic acid shown in Table 12, and the obtained plasmid was named pL5kXSm-27. ATCC13869 strain was transformed with the plasmids and the obtained strains were named ATCC 13869ΔyggB/pL5kXS and ATCC 13869ΔyggB/pL5kXSm-27, ATCC13869ΔyggB/pL5kXSm-22, respectively. These strains were cultured under the conditions described in Example 2, and the L-glutamic acid accumulation after a 4-hour culture was analyzed. Table 13 shows the mean value of three independent experiments. It was found that the ATCC13869ΔyggB/pL5kXSm-27 strain and the ATCC13869ΔyggB/pL5kXSm-22 strain produced significantly more L-glutamic acid than the non-mutated plasmid-introduced strain. These results demonstrate that the mutant-type yggB gene of the present invention can be obtained by in vitro random mutagenesis. The nucleotide sequence of the yggB genes contained in pL5kXSm-22 is shown in SEQ ID NOS: 73 and 75, respectively. The pL5kXSm-22 plasmid has a mutation which replaces “C” at position 2745 with “T” in SEQ ID NO: 5 and causes replacement of Pro at position 437 of SEQ ID NO: 6 with Ser. Moreover, this mutation was accompanied by the mutation which replaces “C” at position 3060 with T in SEQ ID NO: 5 (22 type mutation). The nucleotide sequence of the mutant type yggB gene having this mutation is shown in SEQ ID NO: 73 and the amino acid sequence of the mutant type YggB protein encoded by the gene is shown in SEQ ID NO: 74.

TABLE 13 Amount of L-glutamic acid production by strains transformed with plasmids comprising mutated yggB gene Strains OD620 (x101) Glu (g/L) ATCC13869

yggB/pL5kXS(no treatment) 0.253 0.58 ATCC13869

yggB/pL5kXSm22 0.232 1.10 ATCC13869

yggB/pL5kXSm27 0.245 0.82

(13-3) Introduction of the Mutant-Type yggB Genes into Coryneform Bacteria and Evaluation of L-Glutamic Acid Production

The mutant-type yggB gene obtained in (13-2) is introduced into a coryneform bacterium. The method of introducing the gene is as follows.

Each of the mutant-type yggB genes is introduced into pBS4S by the method described in Example 6 and the obtained plasmid is used to obtain a strain in which a wild-type yggB gene on the chromosome is replaced with the mutant-type yggB gene. A strain in which the mutant-type yggB gene is introduced and the control ATCC13869 strain were cultured in the same manner as in Example 2. After completion of the culture, the amount of L-glutamic acid which had accumulated in the culture medium is measured by a known method to confirm that accumulation of L-glutamic acid is increased by introduction of the mutant-type yggB gene. In this manner, a strain having a mutant-type yggB gene-introduced strain with increased ability to produce L-glutamic acid can be obtained.

Example 14

<Evaluation of the L-Glutamic Acid Analog-Resistance of the Strains Having the Mutant-Type yggB Gene>

(14-1) Evaluation of Resistance to 4-Fluoroglutamic Acid on a Solid Medium

It was predicted that strains which have enhanced L-glutamic acid-producing ability due to introduction of the mutant-type yggB gene would have decreased sensitivity (increased resistance) to L-glutamic acid analogs. Therefore, sensitivity of the strains to 4-fluoroglutamic acid was analyzed as follows.

4-fluoroglutamic acid solution which was adjusted to pH6.7 with NaOH and sterilized with filtration was added to the minimum medium described in Example 4 so that the final concentration of 4-fluoroglutamic acid was 7.5 mM. Each of the ATCC13869 strain, ATCC13869-L30 strain, and ATCC13869-A1 strain was spread over the CM-Dex plate and cultured overnight. Then, the cells were collected from the plate and washed with sterilized 0.85% NaCl solution, and diluted to the cell concentration described in FIG. 6, spotted onto the plate containing 4-fluoroglutamic acid and a control plate which did not contain 4-fluoroglutamic acid, and cultured at 31.5° C. The time-course of growth of each of strain is shown in FIG. 6. Although the wild-type ATCC13869 strain grows faster than the mutant-type yggB gene-introduced strains in the absence of 4-fluoroglutamic acid, the mutant-type yggB gene-introduced strain grow faster than wild-type ATCC13869 strain in the presence of 4-fluoroglutamic acid.

(14-2) Evaluation of Resistance to 4-Fluoroglutamic Acid in a Liquid Medium

4-fluoroglutamic acid was added into the minimum liquid medium having the same composition as described in Example 4 but not containing agar to the final concentration of 1.25 mM, 2.5 mM, 5 mM, 10 mM, and 20 mM, respectively. Each of the ATCC13869 strain, ATCC13869ΔyggB strain, ATCC13869-L30 strain, and ATCC13869-A1 strain was spread over a CM-Dex plate and cultured at 31.5° C. overnight. Then, cells were collected, and after washing with the sterilized 0.85% NaCl solution, inoculated into the liquid medium and cultured at 31.5° C. with shaking. When the OD660 of each strain cultured without 4-fluoroglutamic acid reached 1.0, the culture was terminated and the obtained culture solution was diluted appropriately and spread over the CM-Dex plate overnight. The number of colonies which appeared were calculated and designated as a viable cell number. FIG. 7 shows the relative cell number at each concentration of 4-fluoroglutamic acid when the cell number of the culture without 4-fluoroglutamic acid was set to 1. It was found that the ATCC13869-A1 strain and the ATCC13869-L30 strain have decreased sensitivity to 4-fluoroglutamic acid.

These results also showed that strains having a mutant-type yggB gene can be obtained by the screening using L-glutamic acid analogs such as 4-fluoroglutamic acid.

Example 15

<Construction of the yggB Gene and odhA Gene-Double Mutant Strain>

The yggB gene and odhA gene-double mutant strain were prepared by introducing a mutant-type odhA gene into the above-mentioned ATCC13869-L30 strain.

First, each of the mutations shown in Table 14 was introduced into the odhA gene encoding E1o subunit of α-KGDH on the chromosome of the ATCC13869-L30 strain. In Table 14, nucleotide sequences of the region corresponding to nucleotides 2528 to 2562 of SEQ ID NO: 43 in each of the mutant-type odhA gene are shown. In Table 15, amino acid sequences of the region corresponding to amino acids 696 to 707 of SEQ ID NO: 44 in each of the amino acid sequences encoded by the mutant-type odhA genes are shown.

The L30sucA8 strain in which the odhA gene having the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 45 is introduced can be obtained as follows. The mutant odhA gene fragment is prepared by PCR using primers of SEQ ID NOS: 53 and 54. The obtained fragment is digested with BamHI and ligated to the BamHI site of plasmid pKF19m which is attached to Mutan-Super Express Km (Takara Bio). Then, PCR is performed using a primer of SEQ ID NO: 55 having a phosphorylated 5′-end and the selection primer of Mutan-Super Express Km, and the obtained PCR product is used to transform sup0-E. coli strain, such as MV1184 strain, to obtain a plasmid containing the mutant odhA fragment. This fragment is inserted into the pBS4S plasmid and the obtained plasmid is used to transform the ATCC13869-L30 strain to thereby obtain a strain in which the plasmid is integrated into its chromosome. Then, a strain which is resistant to sucrose and sensitive to kanamycin is selected from these strains. The nucleotide sequence of the odhA gene of the selected strains is determined and the strain in which function of α-KGDH is deficient by a frameshift mutation in the odhA gene is selected as ATCC13869-L30sucA8 (odhA8) strain.

The other odhA mutant strains can be obtained by the similar procedures using the ATCC13869-L30 strain.

The sucA801 strain in which a mutant odhA gene having a nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 47 is introduced can be obtained by a similar method as described above in which a primer of SEQ ID NO: 56 having a phosphorylated 5′-end is used instead of a primer of SEQ ID NO: 55.

The sucA805 strain in which a mutant odhA gene having a nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 49 is introduced can be obtained by a similar method as described above in which a primer of SEQ ID NO: 57 having a phosphorylated 5′-end is used instead of a primer of SEQ ID NO: 55.

The sucA77 strain in which a mutant odhA gene having a nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 51 is introduced can be obtained by a similar method as described above in which a primer of SEQ ID NO: 58 having a phosphorylated 5′-end is used instead of a primer of SEQ ID NO: 55.

The L30sucA8 strain does not have intracellular α-KGDH because the sucA8 mutation is a frame-shift mutation which causes an immature truncation of the α-KGDH protein. On the other hand, sucA801 strain, sucA805 strain, and sucA77 strain have decreased but some α-KGDH activity because these mutations are not frame-shift mutations and do not cause immature truncation of the α-KGDH protein.

TABLE 14 partial nucleotide acid sequence of odhA mutant genes Strains Nucleotide sequence of odhA gene ATCC13869-L30 CTG GCT AAG CTG CGT GGC TAC GAC GTC GGA GGC ACC L30sucA8 CTG GCT AAG CTG CGT       C GAC GTC GGA GGC ACC L30sucA801 CTG GCT AAG CTG CGT     CTC GAC GTC GGA GGC ACC L30sucA805 CTG GCT AAA AGC TGC     GTC GAC GTC GGA GGC ACC L30sucA77 CTG GCT ATA AGC TGC     GTC GAC GTC GGA GGC ACC

TABLE 15 amino acid sequence of odhA mutants Strains Amino acid sequence of Elo subunit Wild Leu Ala Lys Leu Arg Gly Tyr Asp Val Gly Gly Thr L30sucA8 (ΔsucA) Leu Ala Lys Leu Arg         Arg Arg Arg Arg His L30sucA801 Leu Ala Lys Leu Arg --- Leu Asp Val Gly Gly Thr L30sucA805 Leu Ala Lys Ser Cys --- Val Asp Val Gly Gly Thr L30sucA77 Leu Ala Ile Ser Cys --- Val Asp Val Gly Gly Thr

<L-Glutamic Acid Production Using the yggB Gene and the odhA Gene-Double Mutant Strain>

L-glutamic acid productivity of the obtained ygg gene and odhA gene-double mutant strain was evaluated by culturing these strains in a Sakaguchi flask. Each of the strains listed in Table 14 was cultured at 31.5° C. overnight on CM-Dex agar medium, and then ⅙ of the culture was transferred to 20 ml of a medium containing 60 g/l glucose, 22.5 g/l (NH₄)₂SO₄, 1 g/l KH₂PO₄, 0.4 g/l MgSO₄.7H₂O, 0.01 g/l FeSO₄.7H₂O, 0.01 g/l MnSO₄.4-5H₂O, 200 μg/l vitamin B1, 0.48 g/l soybean protein hydrolysate, and 300 μg/l biotin (adjusted to pH 8.0 with KOH), added with CaCO₃ and cultured with stirring at 115 rpm at 31.5° C. The amount of accumulated L-glutamic acid after 19 hours of culture is shown in Table 16. The sucA801, sucA805, and sucA77 strains exhibited higher L-glutamic acid productivity than the ATCC13869-L30 strain carrying a wild-type odhA gene and the sucA8 strain carrying odhA gene with a frame-shift mutation. These results showed that L-glutamic acid is efficiently produced by regulating α-KGDH activity by introducing mutations into the proximate of thiamine pyrophosphate binding region of the odhA gene.

TABLE 16 L-glutamic acid production by odhA mutant strains Strain L-glutamic acid (g/L) ATCC13869-L30 4.9 L30sucA8 19.8 L30sucA801 22.1 L30sucA805 23.8 L30sucA77 21.6

Example 16

<Disruption of the odhA Gene in the ATCC14067yggB8 Strain>

The odhA gene was disrupted in the ATCC14067 strain and the ATCC14067yggB8 strain, respectively and the obtained strains were cultured. First, a plasmid for disrupting the odhA gene was constructed. PCR was performed using the synthetic oligonucleotides shown in SEQ ID NOS: 77 and 78 as primers and chromosomal DNA of ATCC14067 strain as a template to amplify a fragment covering the N-terminal region of the odhA gene. Another PCR was performed using the synthetic oligonucleotides shown in SEQ ID NOS: 79 and 80 as primers and chromosomal DNA of ATCC14067 strain as a template to amplify a fragment covering C-terminal region of the odhA gene. Subsequently, PCR was performed using a mixture of equimolar amounts of the N-terminal fragment and the C-terminal fragment as a template and synthetic DNAs of SEQ ID NOS: 81 and 82 as primers to prepare a fragment in which an internal sequence of the odhA gene is deleted. The obtained PCR product was digested with BamHI and inserted into the pBS4S constructed in Example 1 to obtain a plasmid pBSΔsucA47.

ATCC14067 strain and ATCC14067yggB8 of Example 11 were transformed with the pBSΔsucA47 in the same way as described in Example 6 to introduce the deletion-type odhA gene into the chromosome and remove only the vector portion. Strains in which the odhA gene was disrupted were selected from kanamycin-sensitive strains by PCR using the primers of SEQ ID NOS: 77 and 80. The thus obtained strains were named ATCC14067ΔodhA strain and ATCC14067ΔodhA yggB8 strain, respectively.

Table 17 shows the results of cultivation of the ATCC14067ΔodhA strain and the ATCC14067ΔodhA yggB8 strain according to the method described in Example 3. It was found that introduction of the 8-type mutant yggB gene enhanced L-glutamic acid producing ability of the odhA gene-disrupted strain.

TABLE 17 L-glutamic acid production of the odhA gene-disrupted strain and the odhA-disrupted and 8-type mutant yggB gene-introduced strain OD620 (x101) Glu (g/L)

odhA 0.270 5.8

odhA yggB8 0.242 22.0

Example 17

<Disruption of the symA Gene in the yggB-Mutant Strain>

The symA gene was disrupted in the 2A-1R strain constructed in Example 3 and having an IS inserted into the yggB gene, and the obtained strain was cultured in comparison with the 2A-1R strain. The nucleotide sequence of the symA gene from the ATCC13869 strain is shown in SEQ ID NO: 86, and the amino acid sequence is shown in SEQ ID NO: 87. First, a plasmid for the purpose of disrupting the symA gene was constructed. PCR was performed using the synthetic oligonucleotides shown in SEQ ID NOS: 88 and 89 as primers and chromosomal DNA of ATCC13869 strain as a template to amplify a fragment covering N-terminal region of the symA gene. Another PCR was performed using the synthetic oligonucleotides shown in SEQ ID NOS: 90 and 91 as primers and chromosomal DNA of ATCC13869 strain as a template to amplify a fragment covering the C-terminal region of the symA gene. Subsequently, PCR was performed using a mixture of equimolar amounts of the N-terminal fragment and the C-terminal fragment as a template and synthetic DNAs of SEQ ID NOS: 88 and 91 as primers to prepare a fragment in which an internal sequence of the SymA gene is deleted. The obtained PCR product was digested with BamHI and inserted into the pBS4S constructed in Example 1 to obtain a plasmid pBSΔ1867.

The 2A-1R strain was transformed with the pBSΔ1867 in the same way as described in Example 6 to introduce the deletion-type SymA gene into the chromosome and remove only the vector portion. Strains in which the SymA gene was disrupted were selected from kanamycin-sensitive strains by PCR using the primers of SEQ ID NOS: 88 and 91. The thus obtained strains were named 2A-1RΔSymA strain.

Table 18 shows the results of cultivation of the 2A-1RΔSymA strain and the 2A-1R strain according to the method described in Example 3. It was found that deletion of the SymA gene further enhanced L-glutamic acid producing ability of the mutant-type yggB gene-introduced strain.

TABLE 18 L-glutamic acid production of the 2A-1R strain and the symA gene-disrupted 2A-1R strain OD620 (x51) Glu (g/L) 2A-1R 0.846 12.4 2A-1RΔ symA 0.709 15.8

Example 18

<Construction of a Wild-Type yggB Gene-Amplified Strain>

pL5k containing a wild-type yggB gene of a coryneform bacterium was used to introduce the wild-type yggB gene into coryneform bacterium. A plasmid having a similar structure as pL5k can also be constructed by performing PCR using primers of SEQ ID Nos: 59 and 60 and chromosomal DNA of ATCC13869 strain as a template, digesting the amplified product with BamHI, and inserting the resulting fragment into the BamHI site of pVK9. pVK9 is a shuttle vector which was obtained by blunt-ending the AvaII site of pHSG299 (Takara Bio) and inserting therein a fragment involved in autonomous replication in coryneform bacteria excised from pHK4 (JP-A-05-007491) with BamHI and KpnI.

A Corynebacterium glutamicum ATCC13869 strain was transformed with pL5k by the electric pulse method (JP-A-2-207791). The transformed cells were spread over a CM2B plate medium (10 g/l polypeptone, 10 g/l yeast extract, 5 g/l NaCl, 20 g/l agar, adjusted to pH 7.0 with KOH) and cultured at 31.5° C. for one night. On the next day, colonies which appeared were purified on a CM2B plate medium containing 25 μg/ml kanamycin to obtain a wild-type yggB-gene amplified strain. Plasmids were extracted from the transformants by a conventional method to confirm that the target plasmid was introduced. The wild-type yggB-gene amplified strain thus obtained was named ATCC13869/pL5k. As a control strain, ATCC13869/pVK9 introduced with pVK9 was constructed in the same manner as described above.

Example 19

<Evaluation of a Wild-Type yggB Gene-Amplified Strain>

(2-1) Evaluation Under Biotin-Limited Culture Conditions

Three clones were isolated from each of the wild-type yggB gene-amplified strain and control strain constructed in Example 17, and each clone was inoculated into 20 ml of a seed culture medium (80 g/l glucose, 30 g/l ammonium sulfate, 1 g/l KH²PO₄, 0.4 g/l MgSO₄.7H₂O, 0.01 g/l FeSO₄.7H₂O, 0.01 g/l MnSO₄.4-5H₂O, 200 μg/l VB1, 60 μg/l biotin, 0.48 g/l soybean hydrolysate (T-N), adjusted to pH 8.0 with KOH: autoclaved at 115° C. for 10 minutes), and then 1 g of sterilized calcium carbonate was added thereto, followed by shaking culture at 31.5° C. After complete consumption of sugars, 2 ml of the culture was inoculated into 20 ml of main culture medium containing no biotin (80 g/l glucose, 30 g/l ammonium sulfate, 1 g/l KH₂PO₄, 0.4 g/l MgSO₄.7H₂O, 0.01 g/l FeSO₄.7H₂O, 0.01 g/l MnSO₄.4-5H₂O, 200 μg/l VB1, 0.48 g/l soybean hydrolysate (T-N), adjusted to pH 8.0 with KOH: autoclaved at 115° C. for 10 minutes), and then 1 g of sterilized calcium carbonate was added thereto, followed by a shaking culture at 31.5° C. After the complete consumption of sugars, the concentration of L-glutamic acid in the medium was determined. As a result, it was found that the wild-type yggB gene-amplified strain (ATCC13869/pL5k) caused accumulation of more L-glutamic acid than the vector-introduced strain. (In Table 19, OD620 is turbidity at 620 nm of culture solution diluted to 101 times, and indicates the cell amount and GH (g/L) indicates the amount of L-glutamic acid which had accumulated.)

TABLE 19 Amount of L-glutamic acid which had accumulated under biotin limited conditions OD620 GH(g/L) ATCC13869/pVK9-1 51.4 43.6 ATCC13869/pVK9-2 51.3 43.8 ATCC13869/pVK9-3 52.6 43.0 ATCC13869/pL5k-1 44.7 46.0 ATCC13869/pL5k-2 47.2 45.2 ATCC13869/pL5k-3 43.9 45.8 Blank 0 0.4

(2-2) Evaluation Under Surfactant-Added Conditions

The same clones used in the above (2-1) were inoculated into 20 ml of a seed culture medium (80 g/l glucose, 30 g/l ammonium sulfate, 1 g/l KH₂PO₄, 0.4 g/l MgSO₄.7H₂O, 0.01 g/l FeSO₄.7H₂O, 0.01 g/l MnSO₄.4-5H₂O, 200 μg/l VB1, 60 μg/l biotin, 0.48 g/l soybean hydrolysate (T-N), adjusted to pH 8.0 with KOH: autoclaved at 115° C. for 10 minutes), and then 1 g of sterilized calcium carbonate was added thereto, followed by a shaking culture at 31.5° C. After the complete consumption of sugars, 2 ml of the culture was inoculated into 20 ml of main culture medium (80 g/l glucose, 30 g/l ammonium sulfate, 1 g/l KH₂PO₄, 0.4 g/l MgSO₄.7H₂O, 0.01 g/l FeSO₄.7H₂O, 0.01 g/l MnSO₄.4-5H₂O, 200 μg/l VB1, 60 μg/l biotin, 0.48 g/l soybean hydrolysate (T-N), adjusted to pH 8.0 with KOH: autoclaved at 115° C. for 10 minutes), and then 1 g of sterilized calcium carbonate was added thereto, followed by a shaking culture at 31.5° C. After 2 hours from the beginning of the culture, Tween 40 was added to a final concentration of 5 g/L, and the culture was continued. After the complete consumption of sugars, the concentration of L-glutamic acid in the medium was determined. As a result, it was found that the wild-type yggB gene-amplified strain (ATCC13869/pL5k) caused accumulation of more L-glutamic acid than the vector-introduced strain.

TABLE 20 Amount of L-glutamic acid which had accumulated under surfactant-added conditions OD620 GH(g/L) ATCC13869/pVK9-1 50.7 40.0 ATCC13869/pVK9-2 50.7 39.3 ATCC13869/pVK9-3 51.7 38.7 ATCC13869/pL5k-1 38.6 42.1 ATCC13869/pL5k-2 40.6 46.0 ATCC13869/pL5k-3 39.1 45.5 Blank 0 0.4 (OD620 is turbidity at 620 nm of culture solution diluted 101 times, and indicates the cell amount and GH indicates the amount of L-glutamic acid which had accumulated.)

(2-3) Evaluation Under Penicillin G-Added Conditions

The same clones used in the above (2-1) were inoculated into 20 ml of a seed culture medium (80 g/l glucose, 30 g/l ammonium sulfate, 1 g/l KH₂PO₄, 0.4 g/l MgSO₄.7H₂O, 0.01 g/l FeSO₄.7H₂O, 0.01 g/l MnSO₄.4-5H₂O, 200 μg/l VB1, 60 μg/l biotin, 0.48 g/l soybean hydrolysate (T-N), adjusted to pH 8.0 with KOH: autoclaved at 115° C. for 10 minutes), and then 1 g of sterilized calcium carbonate was added thereto, followed by a shaking culture at 31.5° C. After the complete consumption of sugars, 2 ml of the culture was inoculated into 20 ml of main culture medium (80 g/l glucose, 30 g/l ammonium sulfate, 1 g/l KH₂PO₄, 0.4 g/l MgSO₄.7H₂O, 0.01 g/l FeSO₄.7H₂O, 0.01 g/l MnSO₄.4-5H₂O, 200 μg/l VB1, 60 μg/l biotin, 0.48 g/l soybean hydrolysate (T-N), adjusted to pH 8.0 with KOH: autoclaved at 115° C. for 10 minutes), and then 1 g of sterilized calcium carbonate was added thereto, followed by a shaking culture at 31.5° C. After 2 hours of the culture, penicillin G was added to a final concentration of 0.5 U/ml and the culture was continued. After the complete consumption of sugars, the concentration of L-glutamic acid in the medium was determined. As a result, it was found that the wild-type yggB gene-amplified strain (ATCC13869/pL5k) caused accumulation of more L-glutamic acid than the vector-introduced strain. (Table 21)

TABLE 21 Amount of L-glutamic acid accumulated under penicillin G-added conditions OD620 GH(g/L) ATCC13869/pVK9-1 66.4 24.4 ATCC13869/pVK9-2 65.5 24.0 ATCC13869/pVK9-3 66.9 24.4 ATCC13869/pL5k-1 59.5 30.8 ATCC13869/pL5k-2 59.6 29.8 ATCC13869/pL5k-3 60.1 29.4 Blank 0 0.4 (OD620 is turbidity at 620 nm of culture solution diluted 101 times, and indicates the cell amount and GH indicates the amount of L-glutamic acid which had accumulated.)

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

According to the present invention, L-glutamic acid is efficiently produced by using a strain modified by using yggB genes.

While the invention has been described in detail with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that various changes can be made, and equivalents employed, without departing from the scope of the invention. Each of the aforementioned documents is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. 

1. A coryneform bacterium having L-glutamic acid-producing ability, wherein said coryneform bacterium is modified so that L-glutamic acid-producing ability of the bacterium is enhanced as compared to a non-modified bacterium, wherein said bacterium is modified in a manner selected from the group consisting of: a) overexpressing a yggB gene, b) enhancing the activity of the yggB protein by: i) introducing a mutant-type yggB gene which comprises a mutation in the region encoding amino acids 419-533 of SEQ ID NO: 6, 68, 84 or 85, or amino acids 419-529 of SEQ ID NO: 62, or ii) enhancing the expression of the mutant-type yggB gene of (i), and c) combinations thereof, wherein said mutation is selected from the group consisting of: (A) a deletion in said region, (B) insertion of an insertion sequence or transposon into said region, (C) replacement of the proline at position 424 and/or the proline at position 437 in SEQ ID NO: 6, 62, 68, 84, or 85 with another amino acid, and (D) combinations thereof; wherein said yggB gene is selected from the group consisting of: (i) a DNA comprising nucleotides 1437 to 3035 of SEQ ID No: 5, (ii) a DNA that is able to hybridize with a nucleotide sequence complementary to nucleotides 1437 to 3035 of SEQ ID No: 5 under stringent conditions comprising washing with 1×SSC, 0.1% SDS at 60° C., and wherein said DNA is at least 95% identical to nucleotides 1437 to 3035 of SEQ ID NO: 5 and increases L-glutamic acid-producing ability of a coryneform bacterium when it is introduced into the coryneform bacterium, (iii) a DNA comprising nucleotides 507 to 2093 of SEQ ID No: 61, (iv) a DNA that is able to hybridize with a nucleotide sequence complementary to nucleotides 507 to 2093 of SEQ ID No: 61 under stringent conditions comprising washing with 1×SSC, 0.1% SDS at 60° C., and wherein said DNA is at least 95% identical to nucleotides 507 to 2093 of SEQ ID NO: 61 and increases L-glutamic acid-producing ability of a coryneform bacterium when it is introduced into the coryneform bacterium, (v) a DNA comprising nucleotides 403 to 2001 of SEQ ID No: 67, (vi) a DNA that is able to hybridize with a nucleotide sequence complementary to nucleotides 403 to 2001 of SEQ ID No: 67 under stringent conditions comprising washing with 1×SSC, 0.1% SDS at 60° C., and wherein said DNA is at least 95% identical to nucleotides 403 to 2001 of SEQ ID NO: 67 and increases L-glutamic acid-producing ability of a coryneform bacterium when it is introduced into the coryneform bacterium, (vii) a DNA comprising nucleotides 501 to 2099 of SEQ ID No: 83, and (viii) a DNA that is able to hybridize with a nucleotide sequence complementary to nucleotides 501 to 2099 of SEQ ID No: 83 under stringent conditions comprising washing with 1×SSC, 0.1% SDS at 60° C., and wherein said DNA is at least 95% identical to nucleotides 501 to 2099 of SEQ ID NO: 83 and increases L-glutamic acid-producing ability of a coryneform bacterium when it is introduced into the coryneform bacterium.
 2. The coryneform bacterium according to claim 1, wherein said yggB gene encodes a protein selected from the group consisting of: (A) a protein comprising an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO: 6, 62, 68, 84, and 85, and (B) a protein comprising an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO: 6, 62, 68, 84, and 85, whereby one or several amino acids in said protein are substituted, deleted, inserted, or added, and said protein is not less than 95% homologous to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 6, 62, 68, 84, or 85, and said yggB gene increases L-glutamic acid-producing ability of a coryneform bacterium when it is introduced into the coryneform bacterium.
 3. The coryneform bacterium according to claim 1, wherein expression of the yggB gene is enhanced by increasing a copy number of the yggB gene or modifying an expression regulating sequence of the yggB gene.
 4. The coryneform bacterium according to claim 1, wherein resistance to L-glutamic acid analogs of said strain is increased as compared to a non-modified coryneform bacterium.
 5. The coryneform bacterium according to claim 1, which is further modified to inactivate a symA gene which suppresses the function of said yggB gene.
 6. The coryneform bacterium according to claim 5, wherein said symA gene is selected from the group consisting of (a) a DNA comprising nucleotides 585 to 1121 of SEQ ID No: 86, and (b) a DNA that is able to hybridize with a nucleotide sequence complementary to nucleotides 585 to 1121 of SEQ ID No: 86 under stringent conditions comprising washing with 1×SSC, 0.1% SDS at 60° C., and wherein said DNA suppresses a function of said yggB gene in the coryneform bacterium.
 7. The coryneform bacterium according to claim 1, which is further modified so to decrease α-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase activity.
 8. The coryneform bacterium according to claim 1, wherein said coryneform bacterium belongs to the genus Corynebacterium or the genus Brevibacterium.
 9. A method for producing L-glutamic acid comprising culturing the coryneform bacterium according to claim 1 in a medium so to cause accumulation of L-glutamic acid in the medium or the bacterium, and collecting L-glutamic acid from the medium or the bacterium. 